A LORRY driver says he counts himself lucky to be alive after an air rifle was fired at his truck’s windscreen as he passed under a footbridge.

David Askew, 45, from Ypres Drive, Kemsley, near Sittingbourne, was driving along the Sheppey-bound carriageway of the A249 at Bobbing when the incident happened last Tuesday just before 4pm.

He noticed a group of between three and five youths on the bridge and it is believed one of them fired the gun. It is thought he was wearing jeans and a green t-shirt.

Mr Askew said: "I could see the youths on the bridge and then suddenly there was a bang and I saw a bullet hole at the bottom of my windscreen. There was traffic all around me but fortunately I managed to stop safely.

"I ran up the bank to try to find them but they had gone. I could quite easily have been seriously injured or killed."

Mr Askew was driving his Ford Transit drop-side truck back home from Hastings where he was working as a sub-contractor for British Gas.

He had only just got the windscreen replaced after a block of ice cracked it in the recent wintry weather - and it will cost another £300 to replace it again.

Sgt Evan Jones from Swale police said: "We have now launched a full investigation and are keen to ensure that incidents like this do not become a trend in the borough. Throwing or firing an object at a moving vehicle is incredibly dangerous and could put people’s lives in danger.

"I urge those responsible for this incident to think carefully about the consequences of their actions and consider if the few seconds of fun is worth being arrested for? If anyone can help us find the person responsible for this dangerous and thoughtless act, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."