Comeback king John Otway fired up the crowd with his hit Bunsen Burner to open a science lab.

Otway, 50, was guest of honour at Buckingham Community Middle School in Shoreham yesterday.

After spending 25 years in the rock 'n' roll wilderness, Otway stormed to number nine in the charts before Christmas after record stores were inundated by his devoted fans.

Pupils in the crowd were too young to remember his previous single Really Free, which hit number 27 in 1977.

But they warmed to his disco performance of Bunsen Burner.