A ‘woman with a knife’ near a school sparked a police response on Wednesday (2 October).
Officers swarmed Corsham after the suspect was reportedly seen close to St Patrick’s Primary School on Lacock Road in the afternoon.
Nearby schools were immediately put on lockdown as police rushed to the scene and carried out urgent searches.
A National Police Air Service helicopter from Bristol was also deployed, circling above for around 45 minutes.
Despite their efforts to locate the woman, nobody was found matching the description given to 999 call handlers.
In a statement, Inspector Pete Foster said: “We took immediate action when this report came in and despite an extensive search, we did not find anyone matching the suspect’s description.
“I know this kind of incident will have caused great concern in the local community and I would like to offer some reassurance that no threats were made, no displays of aggression and there were no attempts to enter the school.
“Given the nature of the report the school was put into lockdown while we carried out our searches.
“We continue to work with the school and the local community. People may see more officers in the area as a precautionary measure.”
Wiltshire Police asks that people with concerns speak to an officer or call 101 quoting log number 183 of yesterday’s date (2 October). In an emergency always call 999.