UNNECESSARY health and safety regulations are to blame for the plunging popularity of science at school, a Birmingham expert has claimed.

Birmingham Science Park Aston managing director David Hardman said it was wrong that children could no longer conduct experiments and “create explosions”.

He hit out at teachers for “making science lessons boring”, but added that their hands were tied by safety legislation.

Some schools have banned the use of Bunsen burners in labs, with most science lessons relying now on learning information from books rather than practical experiments in laboratories.

Mr Hardman told a city council scrutiny committee that the country would regret not investing more heavily in pushing science forward as an exciting topic for young people and something that could lead to a well-paid job.

Birmingham’s best chance of escaping from recession and creating employment in the future rested on developing cutting-edge knowledge-based industries rather than traditional manufacturing, he claimed.