Headteacher Robin Gainher said the 12-year-old Beeston Hall student was discharged after some observations and is 'fit and raring to go'.

Mr Gainher said:'She was ill in our sick wing. A needle was on the bed and she must have bounced on it or something.

'It was a complete accident like children do — they weren't playing a game.'

'You take every precaution you have to — we wanted to make sure we were taking the right one.

'It was better to be safe than sorry.'

The 999 call was made at 10.32am and the air ambulance team was called to attend the school between Sheringham and Cromer just after 11.10am.

They arrived on the scene seven minutes later and landed in the grounds of the £21,000-a-year school.

Dr Pam Chrispin and critical-care paramedic Rod Wells treated the girl at the scene before she was transported on to the Anglia One aircraft.

Captain Steve Norris then flew her to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital with the needle still in place.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: 'Fortunately the needle was only believed to be embedded superficially and she was not thought to be in a life-threatening condition.'