Recycling centre calls bomb squad over suspicious device

The bomb disposal team and police use a robot to carry out a controlled explosion in the Reuse Cabin

Royal Navy bomb disposal experts used remote control to manoeuvre a robot to place charges next to the suspicious object before it was blown up at Sighthill Community Recycling Centre near Stevenson College yesterday afternoon.

A site worker is understood to have discovered a "box with wires sticking out of it" within a steel refuse container - called a Reuse Cabin - at around 1pm and alerted management, who ordered the site's immediate evacuation.

In dramatic scenes resembling Hollywood blockbuster The Hurt Locker, an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) engineer dressed in armoured protective flak jacket and helmet cautiously approached the object to ensure it had been made safe.

Around half a dozen workers were evacuated from the plant after the alarm was raised. Within minutes police in high-visibility vests had circled the perimeter.

One recycling worker, who declined to be named, said: "I was told to just leave and had no idea what was going on. I know it was found by a member of staff in the Reuse Cabin. People bring stuff for the skips but if any of it is any good they can drop off items in that container to be reused.

"Bethany Christian Trust collect what's there to be sold. They would have had quite a shock if they had picked up that though."

Sean Donnelly, 41, a student at the neighbouring Stevenson College, said: "I haven't seen anything like this before in my life. There was a lot of commotion going on and I saw police and armoured bomb disposal teams arrive. Word got about that something suspicious had been found in the next door recycling plant. No-one knew if it was real or not.

"It was obviously a hoax because they blew it up with a controlled explosion and it was a small bang that sounded tinny. It certainly wasn't a loud noise so I doubt there was anything explosive on the object."

Streams of cars carrying goods to be recycled were turned away by police.

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police responded to the recycling centre in Bankhead Avenue after a suspicious object was found within the waste.

"It was thought it could contain potentially explosive material and police set up a cordon. The EOD carried out an inspection and found it was a non-explosive and did not pose a danger to the public."

The device is not suspected to have been planted deliberately to cause disruption.

Edinburgh City Council, which runs the Sighthill recycling site, declined to comment.