Ten years ago, glazing supplier Wrightstyle tested one of its systems against a lorry bomb, followed immediately by a car bomb, in a breakthrough test to determine the impact of secondary blast injuries caused by flying glass.

Carried out at RAF Spadeadam, the test involved subjecting a structurally-glazed system manufactured using a technique that bonds glass to a framing support system to the equivalent of 500 kilos of TNT.

The lorry bomb was detonated 75 metres from the test rig and the car bomb at a distance of 20 metres, producing a higher loading on the façade - with both tests being equally successful.

Explaining the rationale for the test, Jane Embury, the company's marketing director, says:

"A lot of similar test data is computer generated.

"Instead, we wanted to test our system against real bombs".