Children at a private Battersea school were horrified when their netball match was interrupted by two suspected robbers on the run from police.

Pupils at Thomas’s School, Clapham, in Broomwood Road were in the playground last Tuesday when two men jumped over the fence on to a shed just before 3pm.

According to residents, police were chasing the men through gardens after conducting a raid on a nearby house for ex-offenders.

Police have refused to confirm whether officers were armed.

The incident has sparked a resident campaign to rid “Nappy Valley” of the house, which they say is endangering their children.

One mother-of-two told how her three-year-old daughter was blowing bubbles in her garden when the men jumped over the fence.

She said: “The police officers screamed at my nanny to get the children inside and to lock the doors.

"She left the house and went straight to a friend’s house down the road.

"Meanwhile, the pursuit continued and the police called for backup.

“Will it have to take a child to be caught in cross-fire to move these ex-offenders out of this neighbourhood?”

Residents say police raided the house after a cash-in-transit robbery the previous day.

Carol Evelegh, the school’s headteacher, said: “Somebody jumped into the playground and then out.

"It happened in a couple of minutes. They absolutely did not run anywhere.”

She added: “My main concern is the children’s safety, and they were completely safe.”

Teachers took the children inside and then over to Clapham Common to be picked up by parents as the car park was full of police cars.

Ambulance staff said they rushed a woman in her 30s to hospital with leg injuries but no further details have been released.

On Wednesday, residents met with Nacro, which runs the rehabilitation house, to discuss what they describe as an on-going problem of antisocial behaviour.

They claim a similar incident took place in the road last July.

A Nacro spokesman said: “We do not have all the information about the incident on September 29 so are unable to comment at this time.

“Nacro are committed to ensuring the safety of the community as well as the rehabilitation and resettlement of offenders and are taking this incident seriously.

"We will be talking to the police and local residents to help resolve this issue.”

Police confirmed that four men were arrested in Wroughton Road for conspiracy to rob.

Police have also recovered dye-stained cash, clothing, tools, a security cash box and cassettes.

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