A man shooting pigeons on an upmarket Herne Bay property sparked a lockdown at a nearby primary school.

A police spokesperson said officers responded to a report of a man with a gun at a Ponsonby property at 10am.

“It has now been established the man was carrying a BB gun and was lawfully shooting pigeons on his property.

“The property borders the grounds of Ponsonby Primary School, which at the time self-initiated a lockdown as a precaution.”

In a statement on the school’s website, officials said the Curran St primary went into lockdown because of an “incident nearby”.

“Please do not come to the school or phone the school as you will not be attended to and this may cause disruption to the management of this incident and could potentially place yourselves and/or our staff and student’s safety at risk.”

School officials lifted the lockdown at about 11.40am.

A nearby childcare centre was also advised to go into lockdown.