Toy gun alert sparks plea to parents

Sergeant Ian Cooke said police received numerous calls in the afternoon and evening of children firing and brandishing the replica guns around the Broadway and Mermaid Caf area in south Lancing.

He said the youngsters bought the guns at the market on Beach Green that day. There were no reports of anybody being injured but all six calls were classed as firearms incidents.

Sgt Cooke said no firearms officers were called out to Lancing but there was always the possibility that such incidents could end fatally, if someone was foolish enough to point a gun, replica or otherwise, at a policeman.

He added: "Parents should hand them in or get rid of them. The potential for injury is quite serious. If a firearms officer is called, then they don't know if it is a real gun or not."

Sgt Cooke added that trading standards officers were also at the market and confiscated a large number of counterfeit CDs.

The market was organised by Partnership 2000 Ltd.

Managing director Lyn Evans said: "They are not ball-bearing guns. They are what we call soft-pellet guns. The only real comparison you can make is to the old-fashioned spud gun of years ago."

Mr Evans said all the traders at the market were responsible people and that the guns were also sold in high street toy shops.