British school in Budapest evacuated, no explosives found

(Updates with no explosives found)

BUDAPEST, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 9 (Reuters) - The British International School in Budapest evacuated all staff and pupils safely after receiving a bomb threat from an unidentified caller on Wednesday, a school statement said.

Police spokesman Soma Csecsi told Reuters that bomb disposal squads had investigated the premises and found no explosives.

The school, which has over 700 pupils according to its website, received the threatening phone call at 0730 GMT, it said.

"In line with our school policies, we informed the police and immediately evacuated the school to ensure the safety of all our students and staff. All ... were moved to safe locations and the school is currently closed," the statement said.

Britain is currently on a "severe" security alert, meaning a militant attack is considered highly likely, mainly because of threats posed by Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.

British warplanes last week joined U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .-led coalition air strikes on IS fighters in Syria for the first time after the government won parliamentary approval for the move. (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Estelle Shirbon)