A boy of nine may lose his sight in one eye after being shot by a ball-bearing (BB) gun sold to a child at a car boot sale.

Levi Pettitt was fired on at point-blank range and needed surgery to remove a fragment of the pellet.

Levi's mother Kelly Town, 25, said: "His vision is blurred and we won't know for a while whether he will lose his sight."

A boy of ten is to be questioned by police about the shooting.

Miss Town, of Haybourne Road, Whitehawk, Brighton, said the BB gun had been sold to the ten-year-old at a market at Brighton Racecourse on Monday last week.

She said her son was so angry after the shooting that he went to the market and bought himself a similar gun for £7.

Miss Town said: "He was going to shoot the boy in revenge but I caught him first and handed the gun to police.

"These guns are potentially lethal. They should be banned and traders should be stopped from selling them."

Inspector Steve Curry, who launched a crackdown on BB gun sales last year, said: "This demonstrates just how dangerous BB guns can be.

"I hope all parents see what has happened to Levi and take action to stop their children getting their hands on what are supposedly toys but are, in fact, dangerous weapons."

Police and trading standards officers found traders selling BB guns when they visited a bank holiday market at Brighton Racecourse last August.

Although the guns are not illegal, event organisers Town and Country Markets wrote to stallholders asking them not to sell them, especially to children.

Police spoke to three traders selling the guns and all agreed to stop.

The visit to the market was part of a police campaign to rid the Whitehawk estate of BB guns after concerns were raised about the number of youngsters using them.

An amnesty held in June last year netted almost 50 weapons, including 44 BB guns, one imitation rifle and two knives.

Andy Morris, regional manager for Town and Country Markets, said he was surprised and saddened by the incident.

He said: "We work very closely with trading standards and the police and on this occasion we found no evidence of anyone selling BB guns at the racecourse.

"We questioned one trader selling a samurai sword and found two boxes of BB guns but they were in the front of his lorry and he said he wasn't selling them.

"Our nationwide policy is if we find anyone selling them they will be asked to leave and they will not be invited back."

He asked anyone with information about the identity of the person selling BB guns at the market to call Town and Country headquarters on 01952 242019.