The signatures were obtained in two days

David and Ozlem Grimason started their petition on Thursday in their home town of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, in memory of their son, Alistair.

The two-year-old died after he was hit by a stray bullet during a gun fight at a cafe in the Turkish resort of Foca in July.

Mr Grimason, 31, said he would keep the petition going into this week and may target major shopping centres in Glasgow.

The high-profile campaign has made the headlines in Turkey and prompted a fresh vow by police to catch the infant's killer.

'Overwhelming response'

Mr Grimason, who works for a print firm, said he had been overwhelmed by the public response to the petition at the Centre West shopping centre.

"It has been going brilliantly and I am really surprised at the amount of signatures," he said.

"I thought 10,000 was quite a lot but we got that in two days.

"On Thursday and Friday we got 5,200 signatures and on Saturday we got 6,200.

"It was supposed to wind up tonight but it has been going really well.

We have been getting a lot of sympathy and people have been coming up and saying they can't imagine what we are feeling David Grimason

"I am just going to keep going and see how many names we can get."

He said they started out with one desk but two more had to be brought to the stall due to the number of people queuing to offer the family their support.

The couple will be gathering signatures on Monday and will then make a decision on what to do for the rest of the week.

Mr Grimason added: "We have been getting a lot of sympathy and people have been coming up and saying they can't imagine what we are feeling.

"Others could not find the words and one old woman started to cry and had to walk away."

Man hunt

He said he now hoped to take the petition to the Forge centre at Parkhead and to Braehead shopping centre on the outskirts of Glasgow.

Mr and Mrs Grimason's son was shot in Turkey

Turkish police are still hunting Daimi Akyel, a 32-year-old car dealer, in connection with the shooting.

Mr Grimason said that, since Thursday, the Chief of Police in Izmir has told Turkish television he wants the suspect caught within a week.

"I think they are getting a bit embarrassed about it," he said.

"I don't know how it has taken five weeks but it has given us a bit of hope and I hope they do get him within the week."

Mr Grimason said the case for reform was underlined when a 10-year-old girl was shot in the leg as she played in a swing park following an argument between two men last week.