Schools in Dorset received a hoax email threatening to bomb school grounds if money was not paid.

Staff from Avonbourne Trust and St Martin's in Bournemouth, as well as Lytchett Minster School in Poole, alerted police after receiving the emails yesterday (Mon) morning.

Avonbourne Trust has four academies; Avonwood Primary, Avonbourne College, Harewood College and Avonbourne Sixth Form.

They were among 400 schools in England who received the emails, thought to have been sent by a disgruntled gamer.

The email appeared to come from gaming server VeltPvP, but the company said the account had been "spoofed" and the message had not come from them.

The US firm's 17-year-old CEO said he suspected the hoax emails had been sent by a disgruntled Minecraft player in a bid to damage VeltPvP's reputation.

The email address requested payment to an email address that used the domain veltpvp.com but the website posted messages on Twitter denying any involvement.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "Dorset Police was called to reports of threats to three schools. It is believed the threats were a malicious hoax and there is no direct risk to pupils, staff or the wider community. No evacuations took place.

"We take hoaxes extremely seriously. They divert police resources and cause disruption and alarm to the public.