PARENTS are risking their children being gunned down if they buy them replica firearms for Christmas, Dorset Police has warned.

The warning comes from the force's head of armed operational support unit Inspector Andy Allkins following a rise in incidents involving the guns.

He said some ball bearing guns are so realistic they can not be told apart from real guns - and armed police are trained to assume they are real.

He said: "I'm asking parents to think very carefully before giving BB guns because of the dangers of users running the risk of being confronted by armed officers - it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between imitation and real weapons.

"Because ball bearing guns are so realistic and indistinguishable from real guns, when police receive reports of firearms being seen by members of the public, officers have to assume they are real and deploy highly trained armed officers.

"Our primary responsibility is to protect the public and calls to all incidents of firearms being seen have to be treated seriously - with armed officers being deployed."

Ins Allkins said over the past few years incidents visited by armed officers increased during school holidays and Christmas.