INQUIRIES by police and the council are still taking place to find out where a powder which caused a major chemical scare in Burnley came from.

Twelve youngsters aged from three to 15 were detained in hospital for 48 hours after playing with the powder which they found in a back yard toilet behind an empty house in Cleaver Street.

Several containers of the flour-like substance were found. On the containers were labels identifying it as anhydrous caffeine warning that it could cause irreversible damage to the nervous system, major organs and respiratory system.

Worried parents are seeking legal advice.

In a statement referring to the incident as a full scale medical alert, Burnley Council says it had been alleged that the containers were reported to the police, the council's environmental health and cleansing unit and Lancashire County Council without any action being taken to remove them.

Public protection committee chairman Coun Philip Walsh said: "We take any suggestion that the council failed to react to a possible health risk like this very seriously indeed. "Our environmental health officers carefully log all calls or reports of waste dumping.

"We have checked these records thoroughly and, so far, have been unable to trace any reports of hazardous material being dumped in the Cleaver Street/Duke Bar area."

Paul Kirby, 22, of Ribblesdale Street said he found the containers in a black bin liner in the back street behind his home two weeks ago.

He put them in his own back yard for safety and then sought advice from a local pharmacist. He called at the police station and was advised to tell the council.

He said yesterday: "I went to the offices in Parker Lane which earlier I referred to as the town hall. They gave me a telephone number to ring at Preston. I then kept being put through to a skip unit and eventually gave up."

While Mr Kirby was at work the powder was taken from his back yard and then found by the children.

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