Police called to yoga class at Chapel St Leonards after people lying on floor are mistaken for 'mass ritual killing'

Passers-by had alerted Lincolnshire Police after looking through the window of the North Sea Observatory and seeing several people lying on the floor.

Unity yoga teacher Millie Laws and her class had cleared up and gone home when five ‘blue light’ police cars descended on the Observatory around 9.30pm on Wednesday night.

However, Millie said when the owners of the Seacape Cafe at the Observatory checked in with her the next morning to see if everything was all right, she said she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Millie recalled it was near the end of a restorative yoga class when the passers-by looked in through the window.

She said: “It’s such a beautiful building we often have people looking through the window.

"It was near the end of the class which is a very deep relaxation, meditation and sound bar, involving me going round playing a water chime.

“We had started the class with yoga to loosen everyone’s bodies and came into the chime relaxation at the end.

"Everyone gets nice and comfy with pillows and blankets, and shut down their eyes for a good half an hour, where lots of things can happen – drift off, snk into your own body or into your breath.

“Everyone looked asleep in my eyes but to the poor people looking in it was very different.

"I gave them a smile but I feel aweful about what they might have thought – I must have terrified them.

”There have been reports police stormed in but they are untrue.

"Fortunately, the class was not disturned and everyone finished nice and peacefully.”

Since then everything has been anything but peaceful, with people contacting Millie from around the globe.

She said: "To start with I thought it was funny and something you’d just tell family and friends but it’s been crazy.”

Seascape cafe staff took to social media to reassure anyone who heard the ‘mass of police sirens’ heading for the Observatory.

“They were on their way to the Observatory after someone had reported a mass killing in our building having seen several people laying on the floor...,which actually turned out to be the Yoga Class in meditation,” Seascape explained.

“Please be mindful that the Observatory has lots of Yoga classes happening in the evenings,” added Seascrape. “We are not part of any mad cult or crazy clubs.”

Lincolnshire Police have also confirmed everyone was ‘safe and well’.

They told Lincolnshire World: “A call was made at 8.56pm on Wednesday evening following concerns for the occupants of the North Sea Observatory, at Chapel St Leonards.

" Officers attended, we’re happy to report everyone was safe and well.

"The call was made with good intentions.”

• Millie has been teaching yoga for two and a half years. She and her partner moved to Lincolnshire to be near her parents about four months ago and has been holding yoga classes at the Observatory since then. After a break, Millie will resume classes in November. Visit Unity yoga on Facebook for details.