More than 11,000 readers have now backed the Newcastle Evening Chronicle’s petition to win a change in the law on airguns.

The newspaper has joined forces with Gateshead Council to lobby Home Secretary David Blunkett into making it illegal to own an airgun without a licence.

The campaign was sparked after a teenager was left blind in one eye after being hit by an airgun pellet.

Chronicle deputy editor, Murray Morse, said: “We have been overwhelmed with the support we have received.

“We reached 10,000 just before Christmas which was an important landmark, and the petitions are still flooding in.

“But it doesn’t stop there. We still want more of our readers to sign the petition.

“This is such an important issue and we need the help of everyone in the community to force a change in the law on airguns.”