Another motorist has told how she became the victim of a sniper who fired a shot at her car.

Julia Basford, 37, was driving late at night when she heard a bang as a missile hit her car.

She thought she had hit something but was too scared to stop because she was alone.

Miss Basford, from Goring, Worthing, later found a dent the size of a tennis ball in the side of her Rover 216 cabriolet She said: "If it had gone through the window it probably would have knocked me out and I might have crashed and been killed."

Police are investigating at least five attacks in the Lancing area in which two cars and a shop window have been damaged by what they believe could be someone firing a type of gun.

They have not ruled out a firearm but say it could be an airgun, ball-bearing gun or a high-powered catapult.

On Saturday, The Argus told how Donna Giles, 32, was almost shot in the head as she drove near Shoreham when an object like a bullet smashed through the windows of her Jeep, missing her by inches.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Shoreham resident Colleen Pumfrey, 59, discovered something had been fired through the windows of her parked Mitsubishi Pajero, leaving tennis ball sized holes.

Miss Basford was driving along the A259 between Shoreham and Lancing when her R-reg car was hit.

It was dark and she did not see who was shooting at her, although she suspects they were hiding behind a bus shelter.

Miss Basford said: "The damage has been done to the driver's door. It struck with a bang and frightened me to death."

The customer accounts manager for NTL in Lancing, branded the culprits idiots, adding: "People could have been killed."

The damage would cost up to £300 to repair.

Sergeant Ian Cooke said: "We are treating these incidents, and the subject of airguns and BB guns, very seriously. The incidents happened around the same area and within an hour of each other.

"We have made house-to-house inquiries and our investigation continues."

Police are launching a county-wide initiative, named Operation Holster, to crack down on the use of such weapons.

Mr Cooke said: "Letters warning parents about the dangers will be distributed via headteachers and we aim to get the message across to the majority of children before the summer holidays."