Hoaxers made bomb threats to schools in Camden, Haringey and Barnet this morning in a plot targeting primaries and secondaries around the country.

In an email written in English and Arabic sent to one school this morning and circulated online, staff were told to pay $5,000 or a bomb would go off in a matter of hours.

“If you do not send the money! We will blow up the device”, the message said.

The threat continued: “If you try to call the cops we WILL blowup the device on the SPOT! ANY attempt at defusing it your self will cause it to explode”.

A Met Police spokeswoman said: “These are currently being treated as hoaxes. At this stage there is no evidence to suggest that this is terror-related.”

A Camden Council spokesman confirmed “a number of schools” received an email and have been advised to treat it as a hoax and report communications to the police.

A Haringey Council spokeswoman said: “A number of schools in Haringey have reported receiving the threatening emails that have been distributed to a very high number of schools across the UK today.

“The police are investigating these emails as an extortion attempt, and we have advised all of the borough’s schools to remain alert and to report any further issues or concerns to the police.

“We have no reason to believe that there is an imminent threat to the safety and welfare of any pupils in Haringey, and local schools are remaining open as usual,” she added.

A Barnet spokesman said 14 schools had contacted the council to confirm they had received the hoax email with one opting to close as a “precautionary measure”.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely with the Metropolitan Police Service,” he added.

Police are investigating. There have been no arrests. Enquiries are ongoing.