A DEVON teenager has appeared in court charged with sparking a security alert after an explosive device was found on a Tube train.

Damon Smith, 19, spoke only to confirm his name and address when he stood before senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London today (Thursday).

He entered no plea to the charge of unlawfully and maliciously making or possessing an unspecified explosive substance with an intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.

However, defence counsel Simon Eastwood indicated that his client, who has a form of autism, would be pleading not guilty on the grounds that it was a prank.

He was remanded in custody until his next appearance, at the Old Bailey, on November 17.