A TEENAGER who shot himself in the mouth with an air rifle missed paralysing himself by just inches, police have revealed.

The pellet went through the back of the 16-year-old boy's mouth, and narrowly missed the top of his spinal cord.

The youngster, of Ribble Avenue, Burnley, has undergone surgery, and will be at the Royal Preston Hospital for at least a week, police said.

The exact circumstances of the accident are not yet clear, but the teenager is believed to have been holding the gun when it discharged at around 5pm on Friday.

Sergeant Mick Nicholls, of Nelson police, said the boy, who has not been named, had injured himself at home while his parents were out.

He said: "This is a very nasty incident and just shows what real damage air rifles can do.

"It looks like he is going to be OK, but this boy will have to have a lot of surgery and is lucky to be alive.

"If the pellet had hit his spinal cord, he would have been in serious trouble."

Neighbours said they had returned home on Friday to find the street cordoned off.

One, who asked not to be named, said: "We arrived back and there was police tape right across so they had to let us through to get home.

"No one really knew what was happening but you do get all sorts of things happening round here. There's a lot of kids and a lot of them are fine but there's also a group of them who are just unbelievable.

"Children that age shouldn't be able to have access to any kind of gun."

But Sgt Nicholls said there were no major problems with misuse of air rifles in Burnley and Pendle.

He said: "I would like to reassure people that something like this is very rare.

"A lot of people have air rifles and we do have the odd incident involving them, but in the main they are used responsibly."

He reminded residents that it is against the law to carry an air rifle in public.