Edinburgh airport security alert over

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) A security alert at Edinburgh airport today ended as a false alarm after bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on what turned out to be a harmless bag, an official said.

''It was an unclaimed rucksack. There was a controlled explosion.

They found nothing and people will be allowed back in shortly,'' an official at the Department of Transport said.

Earlier an airport spokeswoman said all staff and passengers had been evacuated.

The government rates the risk of terrorist attack in Britain at ''severe'' -- its second highest level. That means the authorities consider an attack ''highly likely''.

REUTERS SSC ND2004