BY IAN ROSS

DETECTIVES were this week carrying out forensic tests on a letter bomb which injured a six-year-old girl.

Leah Cain was lucky to escape serious injury after the device exploded at her home in Church Lawton.

The package is believed to have been intended for her father Michael, who works in the pest control business.

When opened the device detonated, showering the room with ball bearings and pins, and leaving Leah with superficial injuries to her legs and feet.

Cheshire Police spokeswoman Jane Gregory described the incident as a 'vicious attack', which could have killed or seriously injured Leah if the device had gone off in her face.

"Luckily she opened the package so the bomb exploded away from her," she said.

"Had she opened it the other way round it would have been a lot more serious."

Leah received hospital treatment for superficial cuts to her legs and feet, but was not admitted.

The Cain family were very distressed and shaken by the incident, and Mr Cain told the Congleton GUARDIAN he did not wish to make any comment.

The letter bomb exploded at 8am on Saturday after being delivered to the Cain family home with the morning post.

Leah was sitting on the floor in the company of her parents when she opened the package, which bore a white hand-written sticky label.

The letter bomb contained a battery, explosive material, and pins and ball bearings inside a plastic container.

The device was contained in a post office jiffy bag, which measured eight inches by five and a half inches, and which are normally sold in post offices at 25p each.

A police spokesman said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Officers involved in the investigation were keeping an open mind about who was responsible for the device, she added, and had not linked a particular group to the incident.

She said that the white sticky label attached to the jiffy bag was unusual in that it came from a sheet of labels of the kind printed on a computer.

The jiffy bag bore the words Post Pak in red and black print.

Detectives were urging people involved in the pest control business to be on their guard for suspicious packages in the days after Saturday's attack.

They asked people to take particular care when checking their mail, especially any packages or letters they were not expecting.

If members of the public have any suspicions about packages delivered to their homes or businesses they are urged to contact their local police station immediately.