HORRIFIED charter boat skipper Dave Gibson told today how missiles whizzed over his head as he took a group of police officers fishing.

He feared his boat was caught up in a Royal Navy live firing exercise and described how the sky crackled from the force of the missiles.

Mr Gibson, who had taken a party of nine Wiltshire police officers wreck fishing on his boat Lady Godiva from Weymouth, feared he might be hit and raced off at full speed. He is now demanding an inquiry and wants reassurances from the authorities it will not happen again.

He said: "It was incredibly unnerving. We were all very frightened.

"If we had been hit and sunk to the bottom I imagine it would have been dismissed as one of life's little mysteries."

Mr Gibson, 57, who is secretary of the Weymouth and Portland Licensed Skippers' Association, was close to his friend Josh Simmonds' charter boat Revolution south of the Bill.

Mr Gibson said: "The Navy broadcast a warning about live firing so I headed to a wreck on the edge of the exclusion zone.

"I heard the Navy instruct two other vessels who were further away than us to move.

"Navy ships have high powered radar and both Josh and I carry radar reflectors so they would have seen us without a doubt.

"So I was horrified when I heard cracks in the sky like shotguns. It was a terrifying experience and I got the hell out as fast as I could.

"The missiles would have been a few hundred feet above us but they were close enough. The question is why didn't the Navy warn us when they knew we were in the area. It's a rather cavalier attitude to have."

He added: "This happened a few years ago and questions were asked in the House of Commons.

"The Navy continues to operate in an area well used by lots of charter boats and yachts.

"I want them to have a policy which states they will take action against any ship commander that allows this to happen."

Mr Simmonds said: "We were in the middle of nowhere when a missile came flying past.

"If it had been any closer I could have read the writing on the side.

"I tried to play it down a bit because the people on board had no idea what was happening.

"It was frightening."

A Royal Navy spokesman denied there was live firing taking place in the area.

He said: "It was planned but it didn't happen in the end.

"What they saw was a target resembling a missile being towed by a Falcon aircraft for radar practice. It's perfectly safe and flies at a certain height. There may have been some smoke coming off it.

"Our ships said they made a call because some vessels were in the way. If there had been live firing all shipping would have been required to shift and a helicopter would have scanned the area."