A BOY aged 16 was airlifted to hospital after he was stabbed in the head with a chisel at Prospects College in Southend.

Police were called to the college in Southchurch Boulevard, Southend, and arrested a boy from Basildon.

A police spokesman said: "Police were contacted by the ambulance service shortly after 12 noon following reports a boy had been stabbed at Prospects College in Southchurch Boulevard.

"Officers arrived to find a teenage boy from Basildon with lacerations to head. He has been airlifted to the Royal London Hospital where he is currently in a stable condition.

"A 16-year-old boy from Basildon was arrested a the scene on suspicion of assault and is being questioned by officers at Southend Police Station."

A spokesman for Prospects College said: "We can confirm that an incident took place in the carpentry workshops at our Southend Campus. The incident involved an alleged assault by one student on another during which one student sustained head injuries.

"Staff were very quick to intervene, administer first aid to the injured student and isolate the assailant before calling the emergency services."

Neil Bates, Principal at Prospects College, said: "Our thoughts are with the injured student and his family and we are doing everything we can to support them. The police are now dealing with the incident and the college will be open as normal tomorrow."