A BOMB disposal team was called out to Knox Academy on Tuesday afternoon after a potentially explosive substance was found in the school’s science labs.

Staff were in the Haddington secondary school carrying out a stock take when they found a couple of bottles of a substance known as Tollens’ reagent.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council told the Courier: “This substance is prepared for use in classroom experiments and usually disposed of after 24 hours.

“When stored for longer, it can become unstable and pose a slight explosive risk.

“As a precautionary measure, the school, on the advice of their technical advisers, contacted emergency services to advise on the matter, who then contacted the army’s explosive ordinance disposal team, who carried out a controlled explosion.”

The explosion was at the school playing fields.