A PRANKSTER ended up being squirted with CS spray after a passing police officer was hit with a high-powered water pistol.

Road worker Gary Parker, who had been involved in a water fight with friends, was sprayed with the gas during his arrest.

The 26-year-old maintains that if he hit the officer with the Super Soaker, it was an accident and that the use of CS spray was "out of order".

The officer was driving a marked van through the market place in Stanhope, County Durham, with the side window down when he was hit in the face at close range by a jet of water.

"The officer was momentarily blinded and for a brief period had difficulty controlling his vehicle," said a Durham Police spokesman.

He added that the incident could have had serious consequences and that the subsequent use of CS spray was necessary.

Mr Parker, of Bondisle Way, Stanhope, had been larking about with friends outside his parents' Bonny Moor Hen pub on Sunday where there had been a party for his mother's birthday.

The water gun had been in the pub garden along with other novelty toys and a paddling pool, which the family had used for the celebrations.

Mr Parker said he had been involved in water pistol fights and that some vehicles were hit. "I can't believe it went as far as it did," he said last night. "Fair enough, if he had had a word with me, but to spray me with the CS gas was out of order."

Acting Inspector Chris Thompson, of Crook police, said: "There is an obvious danger when they are used near roads. If they hit a windscreen it can distract a driver and cause an accident."

Mr Parker is due before Bishop Auckland Magistrates next Wednesday charged with a public order offence, resisting arrest and causing danger to a road user - which carries a maximum penalty of seven-years in jail.