Pupil shot in head

A shot was fired from outside the school grounds

Armed police have been called to a school in Stoke-on-Trent after a pupil was shot in the head with an air rifle.

It is believed the shot was fired from outside the grounds of Holden Lane High School, in Sneyd Green.

The 14-year-old pupil was hit by a pellet, just before 1300 BST on Tuesday, as he stood by the school's tennis courts.

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Witness appeal

The victim was taken to University Hospital North Staffordshire but his injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

Pupil at the school Bryn Williams said he saw the boy after he had been shot.

"There was a hole in his head and blood everywhere," he said.

Cath Rathmill, landlady of the nearby Berwick Inn pub, said her granddaughter attended the school.

Witness appeal

"Our car park has just been full of police and police dogs," she said.

"Someone has supposedly gone into the school with an air rifle and shot one of the pupils.

"Apparently the pupils have been locked in their classrooms all afternoon, one of them is my granddaughter.

"She just said a year nine pupil had been shot in the head with an air rifle."

Stoke-on-Trent Police are appealing for witnesses.