Controlled explosion at college

Police have confirmed that they were called to Winstanley College in Orrell at 9.40am on Monday to dispose of a chemical.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers were called and safely carried out a controlled explosion.

No one was injured and it is not being treated as suspicious.

The incident is one of a series of controlled explosions that have been carried out at schools and colleges across the country after a warning about a particular chemical was issued by the Department for Education.

Guidance was sent out to schools on October 28 stating: “Department for Education would like to remind all schools and post-16 institutions of the importance of ensuring all chemicals used for practical science activities are stored safely.

“CLEAPSS, the science and technology advisory service, that provides support to the vast majority of schools and colleges, has recently received a number of calls regarding a particular chemical - 2,4-DNP (2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine).”

Vice Principal of Winstanley College Mel Chadwick confirmed that a controlled explosion had been carried out at the school.

She said: “In common with a lot of schools and colleges where A-level chemistry is taught, we had a call from CLEAPSS asking us to check our stores of to see if the storage jar had tried out.

“We checked and ours had so we called the police and they called Explosive Ordnance Disposal offices who carried out a controlled explosion on the school field.”