TWO pupils were taken to hospital after a small explosion in their school's science lab.

The exact cause of the incident has yet to be established but council chiefs believe a "minor" gas leak caused the incident at Beardwood High School yesterday.

The two girls were in a class of around 25 14-year-olds working in one of the Preston New Road school's nine science laboratories at the time of the explosion, which occurred just before 10am.

They were taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital as a precaution but discharged a short time later after routine check ups.

One pupil returned to school and the other pupil went home.

A Blackburn with Darwen Council spokeswoman confirmed a probe in conjunction with the gas suppliers Gasforce, Capita and the Health and Safety Executive was underway.

However she said that the explosion was so minor, only children in the lab where the explosion took place were evacuated and it was lessons as normal for the rest of the school.

All of the school's science laboratories were closed for checks, but are expected to reopen today.

Education chiefs praised the school for the way it quickly dealt with incident.

Peter Morgan, Blackburn with Darwen Council's strategic director of children's services, said: "This was a minor incident and thankfully no-one was seriously hurt.

"The school responded very quickly and effectively and all the necessary precautions were carried out to ensure the safety of pupils and staff."