Shocked parents say children as young as four had to hide under desks while teachers barricaded classroom doors as part of a school lockdown drill.

David Payn, a dad with a child in Year 6 at Cliftonville Primary in Margate, says all pupils took part in the exercise, which he branded “excessive and unnecessary”.

Mr Payn told KentOnline that parents were “mortified” and had not been informed the practice would be taking place.

Bosses at Cliftonville Primary have declined to comment - but a Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson says the school “took all necessary measures to prepare the children for the practice”.

Mr Payn said: “They were told they had to hide under tables and be quiet while the teacher barricaded the door.

“Kids just need to be kids. For a four- or five-year-old it was likely terrifying and my 10-year-old didn’t really understand it.

“Some of the kids have got special needs and don’t deal well with things like this.

“I didn’t even know it existed until my son told me. I found it really weird that we weren’t spoken to before it happened. It seems excessive and unnecessary.

“You’d expect the school to let you know. There was a real lack of information given out by them and it seemingly came out of nowhere.”

While the Department for Education doesn’t compel schools to have a lockdown plan, legislation does require them to take appropriate measures to keep people on site safe.

Meanwhile teaching union the NASUWT has said while the probability of an intruder on site seeking to cause harm is low, all staff and pupils need to know how to respond in a lockdown situation.

But Mr Payn says the drill carried out at Cliftonville Primary was “scaremongering”.

“It’s unnecessary scaremongering and we’re teaching them to be fearful of things that aren’t really relevant for this part of the country...”

“I remember being in school during 9/11 when actual terrorist attacks were happening and we didn’t do anything,” the 33-year-old said.

“We’re asking our kids to do stuff we would have done in the Cold War or America where there are mass shootings every five minutes.

“It’s unnecessary scaremongering and we’re teaching them to be fearful of things that aren’t really relevant for this part of the country.”

Following the drill on November 6, Mr Payn put a post up on social media asking for the views of other parents, while saying people he had spoken to in person were “generally mortified”.

The response to his post was divided, with some backing the school.

One supporter said: “Although I don't like it, I would prefer for them to be prepared if it was ever needed”.

But a critic remarked it was “disgusting they didn’t send a letter before actually doing it”.

Reacting to the social media frenzy the lockdown practice sparked, Mr Payn said he was keen to see a sensible debate on the matter.

The retail worker said: “You see the word ‘snowflake’ thrown out there quite a lot which just seems childish.

“You wonder how they would feel if they had their kids come home saying they’d been asked to sit under tables during school.”

“If there was no practice, students would be more likely to panic...”

A KCC spokesperson told KentOnline that the safety of pupils is paramount and lockdown practices mean youngsters are less likely to panic if emergency procedures ever have to be put in place.

“We understand that the parent who posted the original comment on Facebook has not complained directly to the school, which took all necessary measures to prepare the children for the practice,” they said.

“There is nothing unusual in having a lockdown practice. Schools are expected to consider the need for and plan for robust and tested lockdown procedures in a case of a situation such as an unauthorised person entering the school grounds.

“In an emergency situation, sometimes it may be safer to remain inside a building and schools are asked to identify the most suitable internal spaces to which staff and students can move.

“Schools will practice this in the same way they will practise fire drills. This means that students are more likely to react in a calm and ordered way should the school need to instigate lockdown procedures at any point in the future.

“If there was no practice, students would be more likely to panic and be fearful in the case of a school having to put the emergency procedures in place. The safety of pupils is paramount.”

KentOnline has contacted Cliftonville Primary several times for comment but the school has not responded.