Teen charged over bomb find

A man has been charged with making a home-made bomb found at a girls' school.

A 19-year-old was arrested in November last year after the discovery of a suspected pipe bomb in the grounds of Durham High School for Girls.

He was charged on Tuesday and has been bailed to appear before magistrates in Consett, County Durham, on September 23.

It is understood that he lived within the school grounds but was not a member of staff.

The device and materials which can be used for bomb-making, were found at the premises, on the school site at Farewell Hall, off South Road, in Durham in early November.

An Army bomb disposal unit from Catterick, North Yorkshire, was called in to the £2,800-a-term school to render the device safe.

The bomb alert shocked parents at the school, although headteacher Ann Templeman assured them that the students were in no danger.

A police source stressed there was no suggestion of any link to terrorism.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.