By Russell Findlay and Andy McLaren

A prison officer was shot at near a school as he left his home to go to work.

The 38-year-old man, who works at HMP Addiewell in West Lothian, was targeted in the attempted murder on Rannoch Drive in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire.

A window was left smashed next to the door of the senior officer's house following the shooting at 5.30am on Wednesday.

The gunman then made their escape in a silver or grey Skoda, possibly a Fabia, which was driven by another person.

Inspector Stuart Dougan said: "Thankfully no one has been injured as a result of this shooting but there could have had a very different outcome.

"We believe, from our investigation so far, that the man was the intended target of the shooter.

"However, it doesn't matter whether intended or not, to use a firearm so recklessly is incredibly dangerous. We will be treating this as attempted murder.

"We know that the Skoda was parked in Rannoch Drive prior to the attack and officers are in the area at the moment looking at CCTV, both private and public, as well as carrying out door to door enquiries.

"Residents in the street would have either been in their beds or just waking up when this took place and we would appeal for anyone who may have seen or heard anything, and has not already spoken to police, to get in touch."

The prison in West Lothian, which houses 700 inmates, is operated by private company Sodexo.

They include major organised criminals including the Lyons gang hitman Billy Paterson who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Kevin 'Gerbil' Carroll.

The company confirmed an employee had been the victim of a crime and they were supporting him and his family.

They declined to say anything further due to the ongoing police investigation.