A hidden gunman shot the window out of a parked car showering glass across a five-month-old girl being cradled only inches away.

Emelia Harper had been lifted into the back seat of the car by a friend of her father, who was trying to stop her from crying, only seconds before the airgun shot rang out and the glass shattered.

Her father, Les Harper, 26, had driven to Chilton, County Durham, to get a pizza at about 5pm on Sunday and parked his Ford Sierra outside the shop in the village's South Downs.

After he got out of the car, his friend, Lee Hobson, lifted Emelia into the passenger side of the back seat to try to comfort her.

Mr Harper, of Newton Aycliffe, said: "As soon as he did that and I walked round the back of the car, I heard this bang and the window went out."

Mr Hobson is thought to have received a minor cut but, although glass landed on her, Emelia was unhurt.

Police carried out door-to-door inquiries, checked closed circuit television footage and searched a nearby field in an unsuccessful effort to find the gunman, however, he has not been found.

"It was a matter of seconds, that's all it was. I couldn't believe it," said Mr Harper.

A Durham Police spokeswoman said that, between April 2001 to March 2002, the force had received 135 reports of incidents where damage had been caused by air weapons. There had also been seven slight injuries and two reports of threats involving such weapons.

Anybody with information should contact Newton Aycliffe police on (01325) 314401 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.