A DOG was shot in the face and a man and his pregnant wife left badly shaken after gunmen attacked their home.

The incident happened at Front Street, Sherburn Hill, near Durham City, when three masked men reversed a Vauxhall Astra - believed to have been stolen from Newcastle Airport - through the property's wrought iron gates.

Once in the driveway, they set alight a Mercedes convertible parked there, badly damaging it, and fired several rounds.

A four-year-old bull terrier, named Jack, belonging to the property's 32-year-old owner Kevin Wilson and his pregnant wife, Lorna, was shot in the head and had to be operated on to have a bullet removed from its face.

The couple were in the house watching television when the gunmen struck, at around 10pm on Thursday, and were left unhurt but badly shaken. They have since been moved by police to another address.

Following the attack, the gunmen fled the scene in a K registered Ford Fiesta, leaving behind the stolen car registered K952 FSA.

A number of shell casings have already been recovered by a forensic team.

Sergeant Peter Davis said the motive for the attack was unclear, but that a local vendetta was suspected.

He appealed for witnesses to the incident, or who saw the Vauxhall Astra immediately before it, to contact Durham Police on 0191-386 4222 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.