A Pembroke teenager, who was hit by a shotgun pellet or ball-bearing while walking home from school, was lucky not to have lost his eye.

The Pembroke School pupil suffered considerable blood loss, had to have a number of stitches to his head and was off school for most of the week.

Police say the injury is consistent with a pellet shot from a gun.

The boy's mother told the Western Telegraph: "I was shocked to learn that a weapon had been used and I want to underline the seriousness of this accident. While hoping it was an accidental hit, rather than a deliberate attack, the injury was extremely painful and involved substantial blood loss and stitches.

"The wound was very close to the temple and not far from his left eye."

The incident happened when the 14-year-old boy was walking with two friends along the east drive of the school, adjacent to Bush House, at around 3.20pm on Monday, April 25th.

It was only when the friends noticed the teenager was bleeding on the head that they realised something had happened.

Said his mother: "Because my son felt nothing, only a little stunned, the police identified that it was a pellet or ball bearing. If it had been a stone, they say he would have felt pain."

"A girl ran over and very sensibly suggested that as there was such a lot of blood, my son should take his T-shirt off and hold it to his head.

"His friends took him back to school and he was seen by someone in the medical room." His mother was contacted and took her son to South Pembrokeshire Hospital.

"There was so much blood, I had to take him to Withybush Hospital where he had stitches and an x-ray to make sure nothing was lodged," she said.

The mother contacted the police the next day and an officer took a statement. "My son just wants to forget about it. But it is a very worrying incident and I take it very seriously indeed," she said.

So, too, does headteacher Mr Frank Cicotti. He has asked anyone with information to come forward.

"About 400 students walk down there daily," he said. "We are very keen to know what happened."

Police also want anyone with knowledge of the injury to contact them on 01646 682121. But the teenager's mother is concerned that no police officer has yet spoken to Mr Cicotti.

"It will be ten days after the incident before they do. This is too long and I am considering making a complaint to the Police Authority," she said.

There is a growing increase worldwide of firearms injuries in and around schools. The most recent involved a five-year-old boy in Northern Ireland who had a bullet removed from his head after he fell to the ground in his school playground. He remains critically ill.