Christchurch gunman 'narrowly missed' bus passengers

A gunman narrowly missed hitting passengers when he opened fire on a bus in Dorset, the bus operator said.

A pellet passed through the 1A service in Livingstone Road, Purewell, at about 18:30 BST on Wednesday.

No-one was hurt although an 83-year-old woman was badly shaken by the attack, the Bournemouth Echo has reported.

Operator Yellow Buses said: "It was just good fortune that none of our passengers were hit - and possibly injured or even killed."

The firm's head of commercial, Simon Newport, continued: "The pellet, from what we believe was an air rifle, pierced the side window... then shattered the window on the other side of the bus."

Claire Wade, whose elderly mother-in-law was on the bus, said passengers were "terrified".

"The bus driver did try to get quite quickly further down the road and stopped," she added.

Dorset Police said no arrests had been made.