School of caretaker letter bomb suspect searched by police

Police are investigating whether letter-bomb suspect Miles Cooper could have manufactured and tested explosive devices at the school where he worked.

Cooper, 27, was arrested early on Monday after nine people had been injured by Jiffy-bag bombs during a three-week campaign.

Read more... • Timeline of letter bomb blasts

He has been a caretaker at Teversham Church of England Primary School - close to his home in Cherry Hinton, near Cambridge - for 18 months. A source said: "He had a free run of the place and could come and go as he wished. We are particularly interested in the caretaker's house and the school laboratory."

The school has been closed since Monday, and more than a dozen forensic officers have been combing the premises, inspecting one playground on hands and knees.

They were due to complete the search last night, although parts of a large wooded area at the rear of the school remained cordoned off.

Police said the search had been carried out with the "full cooperation" of the school head and Cambridgeshire County Council.

Detectives believe that whoever is responsible for the letter bombs may have a grudge against Britain's "surveillance society". Possible links with a parcel bomb sent to a local Labour Party Office six months ago are also being looked at.