A KENDAL man has come under fire after he and his friends broke into a school and filmed themselves inside.

Kain Hogg, 21, was one of three men who found their way into The Queen Katherine School (QKS) in Kendal after hours.

They recorded themselves live as they wandered around the school, and one of them can be heard asking: "How do we get away with stuff like this?"

They eventually left and headed to nearby Aldi, where they were spoken to by police.

Mr Hogg, a former QKS student, said the trio did not regret their actions but did 'feel bad' on account of the resources called out to deal with them.

They have come in for criticism from Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who said it was 'disappointing' to see police time being wasted on such matters.

“When head teachers and their staff are working round-the-clock to help children catch up on their education and make sure that the school environment is as safe as possible during this pandemic, it’s such a shame that staff at QKS will have to spend time dealing with this incident," said Mr Farron.

“It’s so important that now, more than ever, we stop and think first about what impact our actions will have on other people.”

Mr Hogg said he and the two other men got into the school by climbing over a fence and entering through a classroom window that had been left open. He said the fence was around five or six feet high.

"We’ve done a few overnight challenges in retail shops and I wanted to personally do one in my old school that I used to go to," he said.

"It’s not hard to get into the school grounds, but the entire school does have the fence all the way round.

"The security was poor. I don’t think personally that they should’ve left windows open."

Mr Hogg said the trio 'had concerns as does everybody else' over the pandemic but had not placed anyone in danger.

"We always prepare when adventuring outside with masks, and washing our hands regularly as everybody should anyway," he said.

"We did all have masks in our bags but us three have had no symptoms whatsoever.

"As for touching things, everybody has to touch doors and windows etc. So us doing that hasn’t placed anybody into danger."

QKS has come in for criticism in the past for its safeguarding procedures.

An Ofsted report in 2016 noted that the school's own risk assessments with regard to site security were not being 'implemented fully'.

However, two years later, safeguarding at the school had improved and were described by Ofsted as 'effective' in a 2018 report.

QKS was asked for comment in light of past safeguarding issues and for a response to the behaviour of the three men, but did not respond to enquiries.

A Cumbria Constabulary spokeswoman said: "Police were contacted at 8.24pm on November 7 to a report of suspicious activity on Appleby Road, Kendal.

"Subsequent enquiries indicated an offence of trespass may have been carried out at a property.

"Enquiries carried out on the night led to males being spoken to in relation to this."