ROGUE gunmen are trying to blast their quarry across a busy road.

The gunmen standing on a public footpath have fired shotguns over the B3157 Weymouth coast road to Bridport.

Town councillors claim that several cars have been hit by shotgun pellets and they are worried that one mistake could see someone killed.

Chickerell mayor John Worth said: "Public safety has to be my concern because this activity could see someone killed."

Police have warned that they will act to confiscate shotgun certificates from anyone identified or caught shooting from a footpath.

Lives have been put at risk by the gunmen who have been trying to shoot Canada geese as they pass over Chickerell.

Mr Worth said: "We are worried that firing shotguns over the coast road could see someone seriously injured or even killed.

"Anyone discharging a shotgun has to do so away from a public road. That is pure common sense.

"I was a gun user in the past and I would never point a gun towards where there might be people or where shot might fall on people - because what goes up obviously must come down. The Town Council has spoken about this with police. The problem is actually catching these people.

"Hopefully the gunmen will read this and common sense will prevail in the future."

Inspector Tony Rudd of Weymouth Police said that the vast majority of shotgun owners were responsible and sensible people.

He added: "If there are people breaching the rules and firing from a footpath and we are made aware of this and they are identified then we will look to take away their shotgun certificates.

"It is another example of a very small minority giving the majority a bad name."

Purbeck Shooting School owner Graham Brown agreed and said it was down to the common sense of the shotgun user.

He added: "People know that they should not be shooting across roads.

"It reinforces the need for people to have instruction and to understand shooting etiquette, particularly in the early part of their sporting development."

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said it was legal to shoot Canada geese provided the gunmen had a proper licence to do so under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Mr Worth added that there had also been a separate incident in Chickerell where a cat had been shot with an air gun. Police were also investigating that, he said.