Men hunted after school car blast

The school was evacuated after the explosion

Detectives are continuing to hunt two men seen near a school in Liverpool where a home-made explosive went off inside a teacher's car.

The blast happened in the car park of Runnymede St Edward's in Sandfield Park, West Derby - a few minutes before the end of the school day on Friday.

Detectives said it was lucky no-one was killed or badly injured by the device, described as an improvised firework.

Head teacher Janet Thomas said the incident was unrelated to the school.

Merseyside Police said a man was seen running away from the scene after the blast at 1450 BST. Another man was also seen in the area.

'Despicable' offence

One of the men was white, stocky, about 5ft 10ins tall and aged between 40 and 50 with light-coloured hair.

Officers do not yet have a description of the second man.

The interior of the silver saloon car, which police confirmed belonged to a teacher, was extensively damaged and the windows were smashed by the blast.

The school will open as normal on Monday morning and I shall be writing to parents to provide them with details of the incident Head teacher Janet Thomas

Witnesses said it was a nail bomb, although police have described it as a small "improvised firework".

In a statement, head teacher Mrs Thomas said the device went off in the school car park while pupils were still in lessons.

"No-one was hurt but as a precaution the children were evacuated," she said.

"The school is grateful to the Fire Service and Merseyside Police for their prompt response and action in dealing with this apparently isolated incident which is unrelated to the school and seems to have involved an improvised firework.

CCTV footage

"The school will open as normal on Monday morning and I shall be writing to parents to provide them with details of the incident."

The car has been examined by forensic officers and detectives are looking through CCTV footage from the area.

Officers said they did not know whether the teacher who owned the car had been targeted directly.

Runnymede St Edward's is a Catholic independent school for boys and girls between the ages of three and 11, and is Choir School to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Liverpool.