SKIPPER Michael Dowdney feared for his life when a warship fired live shells near his boat off Portland Bill.

He warned that fishing boats, pleasure craft, dive boats and cargo vessels could have been hit in the blasts.

The drama unfolded as Mr Dowdney took two workmates out on a private fishing trip on his Rum Runner boat for the first time this year.

Mr Dowdney, 50, of Radipole Lane, Weymouth, said: "It was horrendous.

"We were 14 miles south west of Portland Bill fishing over a wreck. What appeared to be a warship was a couple of miles away when suddenly we heard a boom and then another boom.

"Then there was an announcement over the VHF radio that all vessels were to keep a 10-mile radius of the ship because they were firing live rounds."

He added: "Just as we were about to leave there was an enormous volley which kept going.

"It was a bit scary and we scarpered full throttle.

"I don't know what direction they were firing in, but they were in fairly close proximity. They should have at least waited until we had gone."

Mr Dowdney, whose family was hit by tragedy when his son Tom, 18, died in a car accident last October, has his own part-time fishing business but was out on a private trip with his two friends at 3pm on Saturday when the shooting began.

The warship, a patrol boat, was testing guns as part of a series of trials in Lyme Bay before the vessel is handed over to the Brunei government.

Mr Dowdney warned that the coast was busy with 'umpteen' boats at the time, that the warship was near Channel shipping lanes and that the 10-mile exclusion zone ended just four miles from Portland.

He said: "I am told the Royal Navy usually carries out its exercises on a Thursday, tows a target and has a safety vessel.

"Saturday is the wrong time to carry out such activities. There was no safety vessel and there was very little notice."

He added: "Our afternoon was ruined, but it could have been a lot worse."

There was no comment from the Ministry of Defence.

In June 1992, skippers Paul Whittall and Pat Carlin came under fire from a Royal Navy destroyer off Portland Bill because of a problem with the warship's radar.