Horse meat found in beef mince that was supplied to schools in Keynsham

Children in the Keynsham area were given school meals which contained a small amount of horsemeat, it was revealed tonight.

A batch of beef mince containing one per cent of horsemeat was received by 49 primary schools and ten early years centres across Bath and North East Somerset in mid-December, the council said.

Two other schools from outside the district also took delivery of the batch.

The authority has withdrawn all beef mince from its schools and disposed of any stock, a statement confirmed.

Menus in the district's schools have been altered and no meals containing beef mince will be served following the discovery.

B&NES Council said it was confident that all meals were now free of all traces of horsemeat.

The move comes after the council's  school meals supplier, Welsh Bros Foods, informed the council that a batch of beef mince distributed in mid-December contained a small amount of horsemeat.

Welsh Bros Foods said tests revealed the batch contained one per cent of horsemeat.

Headteachers and early years centre managers have been told about the discovery and been urged to inform parents.

B&NES pointed to advice from the Foods Standards Agency (FSA) which stresses that there was no evidence of food safety risks from eating horsemeat.