Sign me up for news alerts

A 40-year-old woman has been charged with making bomb threats to the University of Kent.

Vanessa Relton, of Cromwell Road in Whitstable, is alleged to have made hoax calls to the campus three times, including twice this week.

She is also accused of leaving suspicious packages at the Canterbury site.

Bomb scare at the University of Kent on September 23

She faces three counts of communicating false information and two counts of placing an article with intent.

Relton is accused of leaving a suspicious package "with the intention of inducing in another a belief that the said article was likely to explode or ignite and thereby cause personal injury or damage to property", contrary to the Criminal Law Act, 1977.

The most recent incident happened yesterday when a suspicious phone call was made at 8am.

The day before, the library was among the buildings evacuated after a suspicious package was discovered on campus at 10.45am.

The university was evacuated on December 1 and 2

And on Wednesday, September 23, staff cleared buildings after a suspicious phone call was made to the university at 10.40am. The library was again one of the buildings cleared.

Relton is due to appear at Margate Magistrates Court on January 14.