A teenage boy from West Sussex was rushed to hospital after being shot in the leg with an air pistol.

Dan Talbot, 15, had to go to Worthing Hospital to have a pellet removed from his shin. He needed stitches and has been left with a scar.

Today, the teenager's family urged anyone who knows the culprits to come forward to stop further shootings.

Dan, an Angmering School pupil, was out walking with two friends in North Drive, Angmering, when they heard rustling in the bushes and an air pistol being fired.

They ran home, where Dan discovered he had been shot in the shin.

The teenager, from Rustington, said: "One of my friends thought he saw a gun so we ran. Then I felt like I had got shot in the shin. It was quite painful but I just kept running."

"My friend's mum said I should go to hospital because she was worried I might get lead poisoning.

"I didn't realise the pellet was still in my shin until it showed up on the X-ray at the hospital."

Dan's mum Karen said she was shocked by the incident and she appealed for any witnesses to contact police.

She said: "It was a shock getting the phone call saying he had been shot. Imagine what it would have been like if someone had been shot close to their eye or it had happened to an elderly person."

Sussex Police said it takes any incident involving an air weapon very seriously.

Anyone carrying a loaded air weapon in a public place faces up to six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000 and it is illegal to fire an air weapon within 15 metres of a road or street.

PC Lee Holmes said: "The weapon was powerful enough to leave a pellet embedded in his skin. This act was dangerous and irresponsible."