PHYSICS students at Arnold School in Blackpool were left asking "what's the matter?" on a recent trip to Switzerland to study the biggest particle accelerator in Europe.

A nine-strong group of pupils went to Switzerland last month to study at CERN, the particle physics accelerator in Geneva.

Head of Physics Gill Chilvers said the trip gave the pupils a chance to research a new kind of matter which is created when electrons and positrons collide.

She said: "CERN is the biggest particle research centre in Europe where top scientists are working away to try to solve the eternal question of how and why the universe was created.

"The trip was really useful as the pupils saw the scale of the research centre in the flesh rather than in a textbook. It really brought the subject to life."