A lab technician caused a full-scale alert today when he dropped a tray of chemicals outside a classroom.

The minor spillage involved small bottles of standard school laboratory liquids, such as sulphuric acid.

He was about to clean up the mess during morning break today when he was told as a precaution the fire brigade had to be called.

The technician watched with growing horror as six fire engines and an ambulance arrived and a cordon was thrown around the science block.

Then came the men in chemical protection gear.

Dressed in the lurid yellow suits more commonly seen following terrorist attacks and nuclear accidents, they braved the chemistry lab peril and quickly mopped up.

A spokeswoman for Emmanuel College, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, said: "The technician is more than a little embarrassed.

"He was in a room adjacent to a chemistry lab carrying a tray of small bottles of chemicals when he stumbled and fell.

"They fell onto the floor and some of the chemicals mixed.

"In those situations there is a policy that the fire brigade must be called as a precaution.

"The fire brigade reacted to the situation and an ambulance was also called out to be on standby.

"It all looked an awful lot worse than it was and must have appeared quite serious to residents around the school.

"But it was just a spill in the science block and as it was break time the pupils didn't need to be evacuated."