Airport reopened after bomb alert

An exclusion zone was put up around Edinburgh Airport

A full scale emergency alert at Edinburgh Airport has ended after a suspect rucksack was blown up during a controlled explosion.

Thousands of passengers, who were evacuated following the incident at 1210 GMT, were allowed back into the terminal two hours later.

Travellers faced further disruption as outgoing flights, which were cancelled during the alert, were rescheduled.

The rucksack was found in the check-in area of the busy terminal.

It is understood to have been a new rucksack that had been shoved into the top of a bin.

Police immediately treated the bag as a suspect package and cleared the building.

Airport operator BAA said incoming flights were allowed to land but at least 15 outbound flights were delayed from taking off as a result.

Police and bomb disposal experts eventually gave an all-clear

The airport was given the all-clear and reopened at 1415 GMT, but officials were advising passengers to expect delays on departing flights as the situation got back to normal.

Several thousand passengers as well as airport workers across the terminal were evacuated to a nearby hotel as the incident unfolded.

Army bomb disposal experts from Craigiehall Camp near Edinburgh were called in to carry out a controlled explosion, police said.

A spokesman for airport operator BAA said: "An unattended bag was found opposite the check-in area at the entrance to the building.

"As it was a brand new bag, and because it was placed very prominently at the top of the bin, it was possibly treated more seriously than if it had been a used plastic bag.

"We have to treat every suspect package in line with normal procedures."