A SENIOR pilot is calling for laser pens to be banned after a police helicopter was targeted while responding to an incident in Merseyside.

The helicopter was on its way to an emergency when a laser was shone at the cockpit several times on Sunday night.

However the pilots were able to identify where the laser was coming from before guiding officers on the ground to the area where they arrested a man.

An investigation is still ongoing.

Captain Paul Watts, Chief Pilot of the National Police Air Service said: “The use of hand-held lasers to target aircraft is an increasingly common occurrence and poses a significant threat to aviation safety.

“All such investigations are rigorously investigated and have led to criminal convictions and prison sentences for the perpetrators.

“There are moves to class laser pens as offensive weapons and get them banned.

“As a victim of this, I can tell you they are extremely distracting to pilots.

“There are hundreds of incidents like this in the UK every year. Fortunately, there haven’t been any fatalities as a result of people using these pens and we’d like it to stay that way.

“Use them to the dog something to chase around the garden or shine it on a wall - but don’t point it an aircraft.”