DEADLY crossbows are legal to buy, inexpensive and readily available to anyone aged over 17.

Crossbows can be bought without a licence for only £99.

A country sports shop visited yesterday by The Northern Echo had several bows available.

The sales assistant confirmed that no permit was needed to buy, own or use the weapons, but he said they must be fired on private land.

Powerful crossbows are also freely available to buy over the internet.

Many come with telescopic or even “red-dot” sights.

The first evidence of crossbows being used as weapons dates back to 500BC.

Many armies around the world still use the bows – British-made crossbows were supplied to Serbian forces fighting in the Kosovo War.

In the North-East, the weapons have been used in several violent crimes.

In 2006, a Bishop Auckland man who shot his nephew in the throat with a crossbow at point-blank range, after a row over a nuisance dog, was jailed for six years.

The court heard the victim escaped death by millimetres.

Nationally, the weapons have been used in a number of high-profile murders.

Under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, possession and the sale of crossbows were brought in line with firearms and the legal age limit was increased to 18.

It is also illegal to use a crossbow for hunting animals and birds.