A TEN-year-old girl was shot by an air gun as she took part in a carnival parade.

The majorette was dancing in the procession at Radcliffe Carnival on Saturday afternoon when she was hit by a pellet from a BB gun in Pilkington Way.

She suffered “very minor bruising” in the incident.

PC Andy Hall, from Radcliffe neighbourhood policing team, said: “Two 12-year-old boys were detained for firing a BB gun at the procession as it passed along Pilkington Way.

“They were taken back to Radcliffe police station, where they were collected by their parents. They will be dealt with by restorative justice.

“The incident was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect day. The overall behaviour was excellent.”

Thousands of people turned out on Saturday for the 47th annual carnival on Red Bank playing fields, in Unsworth Street. It was the first event since the death earlier this year of “Mr Carnival”, Ray Vevers, who had organised the annual spectacle since 1966.

A banner in his memory was displayed on the float transporting Radcliffe’s carnival royalty along the parade route.

Also in the procession was the Mayor of Bury, Cllr Joan Grimshaw, Radcliffe Brass Band, several visiting carnival queens, Morris dancers and majorettes, Radcliffe and Whitefield Lions, and residents of Rose Court Care Home.

Radcliffe Rotary Club and Radcliffe District Scouts put together a float dedicated to the town’s Olympians, which included their own Olympic torch.

Their special guest was swimmer Pauline Pick, nee Sillett, who competed in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The carnival also included fairground rides, stalls, sideshows, refreshments and the crowning of the carnival royalty.

It continued yesterday with a car boot sale and a vintage car and commercial vehicle rally.