Drinker, 60, shot in the head

A man has today described the terrifying moment he was injured in a drive-by shooting at a Shropshire pub.

The 60-year-old customer was shot in the head when a gunman fired an air rifle through a window at the Station Hotel in Ironbridge, at 9.10pm yesterday.

The man, who does not want to be named, said that he had had a very lucky escape.

"I didn't have time to think, it just happened so quickly," he said. "I just heard a crack and the window went and the bullet hit me in the side of the face."

The shooting victim was back at work today after refusing to go to hospital. Paramedics treated him at the scene.

He said: "There was only three of us in the pub at the time. I was just sitting there watching the football, it just came out of the blue. I've got no enemies that I know of so I don't think it was aimed at me.

"It hit me on the side of the eye. It could have blinded me - it was very close. I'm just grateful it wasn't any worse."

Pub landlord John Harrison today told of his shock at the shooting and said he could have been the victim as the customer was sitting in his usual seat.

Mr Harrison, who only took over the pub three months ago, said it would have been "catastrophic" if the pellet had hit the victim any closer to his eye.

The gunman fired the shot from a passing car with at least two other people inside as it was driven along Ladywood.

Mr Harrison said: "It could have been a child sitting there or anyone. As it happens it is my usual seat so it could have been me.

"Another quarter of an inch and it would have blinded him."

Mr Harrison said CCTV footage showed the gunman holding the air rifle with his left hand out of the car window. It also shows the moment the pellet hit the man in the head, he said.

Mr Harrison, whose wife Glynis is the pub licensee, said: "You can plainly see on the CCTV that the passenger was holding an air rifle. You cannot see the barrel, but you can see him holding it out of the window as he fired."

The landlord, who moved to Ironbridge from the Isle of Man, said: "Obviously everyone was shocked. You don't expect that in Ironbridge do you?

He added: "There was blood all over the man's jacket and there was glass everywhere. It has left a two inch hole in the glass."

The vehicle the gunman was travelling in is believed to be a dark-coloured three-door hatchback. Telford police spokesman Chris Ammonds said: "Thankfully the male hit by the pellet suffered only minor injuries as a result of this shot being fired, but it could have been far more serious."

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Telford's Malinsgate police station on 08457 444888.

By Crime Correspondent Kirsty Marston

The victim sitting on a chair slumps forward as he is shot.

A CCTV image shows a gunman firing from a passing car.

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Bar manager Chris Stokes by the damaged window.

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First aid is administered to the shot victim in the bar of the pub.

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Chris Stokes outside The Station Hotel in Ironbridge.