TWO boys, aged nine and 12, were shot and injured by a teenager armed with an airgun as they delivered a newspaper on an errand for their mother.

Friends Ben Perrin and Jack Taylor were both hit by metal pellets fired from a gun with telescopic sights.

The angry mother of one of the boys said they had been used as "human targets".

And today, the parents of the young victims, backed a campaign supported by the Bolton Evening News for the government to introduce tough new airgun laws and raise the age of legal ownership from 14 to 17.

Ben's mother Tina Perrin, aged 34, of Greenside Avenue, Kearsley, said today: "They were used as some sort of human targets. You just cannot imagine what was going through the minds of the boys who fired the shots."

Her next-door neighbour Samantha Taylor, aged 37, added: "They could have been killed."

The youngsters were walking along a disused railway line near embankments at the junction of Pilkington Road and Bolton Road in Kearsley at 4.30pm on Wednesday night.

They had just returned from delivering a newspaper together when they passed two teenagers. Both older boys are thought to be aged around 18.

Mrs Taylor added: "Jack had innocently asked them what type of gun they had when one of them said: 'Shoot them, shoot them'."

The friends ran away, but Jack was struck in the spine. Ben was hit in the left leg, causing severe bruising. Both boys received hospital treatment but were not detained.

It is the latest in a string of airgun attacks across Bolton. Children have been left injured and local wildlife killed.

Mrs Taylor added: "Something needs to be done. Airguns should be banned or certainly be much more strictly licensed.

"Parents should never buy these sorts of gun for their children. They should also be aware of what their children are playing with."

A police spokesman said the shooting incident is being investigated.

See article Why gun laws must be changed