A man arrested in a bomb scare which led to dozens of houses being evacuated has admitted making deadly explosives at his Somerset home.

Philip Leonard, 36, pleaded guilty at Taunton Crown Court to four charges of making explosive substances for an unlawful purpose. The father of two, who carried out the offences between New Year’s Eve and January 21, was remanded in custody while pre-sentence reports are prepared.

A previous hearing was told that the amount of explosives found in the shed at his Somerset home was enough to cause structural damage up to 50 yards away and posed a significant risk to life.

The charges follow a raid on Leonard’s house in Burnham-on-Sea, after which residents were evacuated from their homes and a 100-metre exclusion zone was established around the property on January 20.

Police found 0.7oz (20g) of hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, 3.5oz-5.3oz of pentaerythritol tetranitrate, 1.1oz of picric acid and 0.2oz of lead picrate.

Patrick Mason, defending, said Leonard pleaded guilty on the basis that he did not have any “malicious motive”.

Bomb disposal experts were called to the house on the morning of January 20.

Residents were allowed to return to their homes later that evening after ordnance experts had removed several items and declared the area safe.