Student Edwyna Dyer was understandably upset when her college project sparked a terrorist scare.

But when Britain is on a state of high alert over possible terrorism attacks, police cannot be too careful.

Edwyna's art class at City College in Brighton was asked to explore a topical issue and she chose the Washington sniper.

She took pictures of her father with fake guns and sent them off to be developed at Boots in London Road.

When she came back, police had been called and the pictures eventually had to be destroyed.

Edwyna has written a letter of complaint to Boots but sadly for her, the company was following the correct procedure.

It has to seek police advice whenever there is any possibility of terrorism and although the pictures were amateur, they did look worrying.

Brighton is a resort in which, 18 years ago, five people died in an IRA bombing at the Grand Hotel and, a few years later, an attempt was made to blow up the Palace Pier.

The threat is perhaps greater these days than it has ever been before, with extremists coming from a broader religious and political field than just the IRA.

Only this week, Tony Blair asked everyone to take more care.

It's sad when a student's art project causes security problems but it's a sign of the times and a lesson to us all.