Robber shoots woman officer

A woman police officer has been shot by a robber fleeing from a pub raid.

A 29-year-old dog handler Katie Johnson was blasted in the leg with a shotgun as she responded to a 999 call from the Hospital Inn, in Bamber Bridge, near Preston, at 8.15am yesterday. Her injuries were not thought to be life threatening.

Lancashire Police arrested one man after the shooting but warned members of the public not to confront the second man involved in the "extremely violent" raid.

The officer told the gunman, who was wearing a balaclava, to drop the weapon but he fired at her with what officers think was a shotgun. She was hit by pellets at the top of her leg.

A man who works at the pub was taken to Chorley hospital with unspecified injuries, but was not shot, police said.

At least two men were involved and fled on to a nearby railway line. The track, part of the TransPennine Express rail company, was closed while searches were carried out.

A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "We have been told to keep inside and there is a helicopter still flying around; something is happening at the Hospital Inn."

Linda Buckland, who lives near the pub, said: "We have been told to keep away from the windows and not to go outside. We have a policeman outside our door and he has been there nearly three hours."