The Cabinet Office has confirmed that police were called to two separate incidents at National Citizen Service camps last week, one involving an alleged sexual assault and the other involving threatening behaviour with a knife.

One of the cases, the alleged sexual assault in South Yorkshire, is still open. The Cabinet Office is understood to be working closely with the provider to establish further details.

Meanwhile, in Nottingham, an incident of threatening behaviour with a knife prompted the police to issue a caution and the participant was removed from the NCS programme.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “The safety of NCS participants is our first priority. We are aware of the incidents and all procedures were correctly followed. As the police are now involved it is not appropriate for us to comment further.”