FOR tonight's archive hour article we take a look back at a scare for parents and pupils at Hermitage Academy 10 years ago this week.

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HELENSBURGH was at the centre of fears of a suspected swine flu outbreak last week.

Five teenage pupils from Hermitage Academy were kept at home by parents after it emerged that they had been in contact with a tutor, thought to have returned from a family holiday in America around the time of the outbreak.

The man, believed to be instructing during an Army Cadet Force event in Clydebank last week, later developed flu-like symptoms.

A letter was issued, notifying parents that five pupils had “contact with an individual who has been recommended to be tested” and had been kept at home “as a precautionary measure”.

Headteacher Geoff Urie issued an updated brief to parents on Friday, saying that “none of the pupils concerned were displaying any symptoms” of the H1N1 virus.

The five pupils returned to school on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Argyll and Bute Council confirmed that the pupils have returned to classes and the school is “operating as normal”.