By ANNA USHER

A man allegedly walked through North Sydney last Friday morning carrying what appeared to be a loaded pistol while thousands of students at schools including Shore, Wenona, Monte and North Sydney Boys High were in class.

At 10:05am on Friday, 15 May, members of the public called North Sydney police to report a man on Walker Street allegedly carrying a black pistol.

Officers found a 37-year-old Terrigal man outside North Sydney Train Station. He told officers he had a plastic pistol in his bag.

When police began searching his bum-bag, he bolted.

A North Shore Police Area Command spokesperson said officers chased the man along Blue Street and across the Pacific Highway before apprehending him on Little Walker Street.

In the bag, police allegedly found 9.03 grams of methamphetamine (ice) and a green and orange plastic pistol wrapped in black electrical tape, making it appear realistic at first glance, the spokesperson said.

Checks then revealed the man was already under both a Firearms Prohibition Order (FPO) and a Weapons Prohibition Order (WPO).

Police took the man to Chatswood Police Station and charged him with possessing and supplying a prohibited drug, possessing an unauthorised pistol, and acquiring a pistol while under a firearms prohibition order.

The 37-year-old was refused bail and is due to face Downing Centre Local Court on June 4.