Guelph police give teachers failing grade for field trip antics

A manhole surrounded by grass is seen in this stock photo. (Mahmoud Yahyaoui/Pexels.com)

Guelph police are hoping two teachers have learned an important safety lesson after emergency services were called about potentially dangerous behaviour at a field trip.

Two witnesses called police on Thursday morning around 11:20 a.m. after they said they saw someone lifting a manhole cover in the Yorkshire Street North and Elora Street area.

The witnesses told police someone had climbed inside and closed the cover.

Police officers and firefighters hurried to the scene. As firefighters were getting ready to enter the sewer system with rappelling equipment, two teachers from a nearby high school approached them.

The teachers said they had been participating in a class trip exploring the stormwater management system and one of the students had climbed up the storm drain and opened the manhole cover.

Police said the teachers were advised about the potential safety and liability concerns of the excursion.