A TEENAGE boy nearly lost his eye on Monday night after being shot in the face with an air gun.

Brian Hurst, 14, was playing in a back garden at a friend's when the horrific accident occurred.

According to Brian's dad, also called Brian, the youngster, of Wigan Road, Leigh, was in his pal's back garden playing in the shed.

His friend was firing his air gun at bottles when a pellet shot through the shed door and hit Brian just millimetres above his left eye. The pellet then travelled under his skin, embedding itself in his forehead.

His dad, Brian, said his son, a pupil at Westleigh High School, had been "very lucky".

"Just a few millimetres difference and he could have been blinded."

He added: "We didn't know Brian was playing with people who were messing about with guns. He should have known better because I've got an eight-inch scar on my leg from when I was shot in an accident at exactly the same age."

According to Mr Hurst, Brian is expected to make a full recovery.

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