UPDATED: TWO students have been taken to hospital after a chemical spill at a school in Tiptree.
The 17-year-olds from Thurstable School and Sixth Form College spilled phenol crystals on their arms and suffered skin irritation.
The classroom and those either side were all evacuated while firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, cleared the spillage.
Ambulances, rapid response cars and the hazardous response team were called to the school, off Maypole Road, at about 2.30pm today.
Fire crews, from Colchester, Maldon and Tiptree, were able to clear the area and clean the spill within 90 minutes.
John Lee, deputy headteacher at the school and college, said the students are fine and the chemical is one regularly used in A Level Chemistry practicals.
See the full story in Thursday's Gazette.
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