A BOY who was shot at by a sniper is recovering today from surgery to remove a pellet from his head.

Brendan Holland underwent a delicate operation yesterday, after doctors said there had been a risk the pellet might move and damage his eyes or even his brain.

Doctors at Middlesbrough General Hospital released a copy of an X-ray, which showed the missile and how close it was to Brendan's left eye.

The pellet was seen to have lodged itself in bone.

The 12-year-old was described as "well" by medical staff after the operation, which is thought to have been successful.

Brendan's mother, Geraldine, spent her third day by his hospital bed yesterday. She has made a plea for the tightening of regulations governing air guns.

Police are still carrying out investigations into Monday's shooting by an unknown person from a house in the Lowthian Road area, off York Road, Hartlepool