A DELIVERY man believes he could have been shot with an air rifle.

Ian Turner, thinks he was shot at as he unloaded Christmas cards after parking his van outside the post office in Broadmayne, near Dorchester.

"I had just come out to the van and was opening the back when all of a sudden there was a crack or some sort of noise," said Mr Turner.

He added that he felt a sudden pain in his arm almost instantly as he stood at the rear of his van.

"I went into the shop and told the owner and he said he thought he heard the noise as well," he added.

Mr Turner, a self-employed greetings card deliverer who lives in Swanage, said he had been to hospital and reported the incident to the police.

He added: "I think I was just there and somebody was riding around and felt like taking a pot shot at anybody that was there."

He said that anybody firing off air guns had no common sense and added: "My worry was that it could have been a child that was and that they might have hit me in the face or in the eye.

"I was lucky it just hit me in the arm."

Mr Turner, 50, who regularly carries out deliveries in the area and intends to continue, said: "The reason I reported it to the police is mainly in case they hurt somebody else."

Dorchester police inspector Les Fry said it could not be confirmed that the man was shot but asked people in Broadmayne to be on the lookout.

He said that no weapons or people had been seen and asked anyone with information to contact PC Simon Lee on 01305 222222.