A MOTORIST who had a lucky escape when his car was shot at in broad daylight has slammed the police for taking five hours to respond.

Warren North believes he narrowly avoided serious injury or even death when a shot was fired at his Mercedes near the Whitworth Workers in Market Street just after noon on Saturday.

He slammed on his brakes and immediately noticed a hole in the driver’s door window.

The 50-year-old returned to his Market Street home to report the incident to Lancashire Police, but claims officers didn’t arrive for another five hours.

They told him they were ‘too busy dealing with other incidents’.

He said that the shooting could have caused a serious road accident and told the Observer that he intends to report the authority to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

He said: "The incident was very frightening and I could have been killed.

"I heard a loud bang and I ducked. The driver’s door window went through and luckily I didn’t crash. When I came back home, my wife Maxine tried to calm me down.

"I phoned the police and the woman asked me was I sure that it was a gun. I told her that I was and I had been shot at and then she advised me to tape the window up so they could send the forensics team out.

"When they hadn’t come after about 30 minutes my wife rang them and she was told that they were on their way. It was unbelievable."

An officer eventually turned up at around 5.40pm but Mrs North, aged 44, fears that vital evidence could have been missed as a result of the delay.

She added: "I know that they are often busy, but what can be more serious than someone being shot at?

"We were expecting a full emergency response with sirens and officers going out to look for whoever did this because they could have been waiting to do it again.

"My husband was a nervous wreck when he came home showered with glass.

"Our three-year-old son Isaac is often with my husband so I dread to think what could have happened if he had been in the car.

"We both feel very let down. The whole community will not be able to feel safe if the police do not take incidents like these seriously."

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: "Police received a non-emergency call with regard to a damaged car window.

"The caller was contacted on two occasions by police and then visited at their home address later that evening.

"Police have been unable to view the reported damage to the vehicle or obtain a full account of the events from the caller."

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