A TWO-year-old boy was left bruised and bleeding after being struck by several ball bearings that fell from a ride at Salisbury Charter Fair this weekend.

Noah Smith was with his family on the way home from a birthday meal on Sunday evening, when he was hit by the metal balls.

He was left with a nosebleed, swelling and bruising to his face.

His mother, Marie, told the Journal the family had stopped to watch one of the rides, when “all of a sudden, we just heard something falling and my little boy burst into tears”.

“I looked and he had blood pouring from his nose,” she added.

“My husband looked around and saw ball bearings on the floor.”

The ride operators said they could not help, but said they advised riders to empty their pockets to avoid injury to people walking below.

In a post on Facebook, Marie shared her belief that it was a deliberate act, writing: “A person who I can only describe as evil decided to drop a load of metal ball bearings from the full height of the ride.”

And she said a video taken by one of the children that night shows somebody throwing the ball bearings.

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said they are investigating the incident but “it is not clear whether the ball bearings were deliberately thrown from someone on a fairground ride nearby or whether they fell from someone’s pocket and enquiries are ongoing”.

Marie now wants to warn other families to be aware when standing under the fairground rides, and said the consequences could have been far worse.

“My seven-month-old daughter was feet away, if one had hit her it could have done more damage.

“It’s just lucky nobody else was hurt and Noah wasn’t severely injured,” she added.

“I’m not expecting anything to come from it as such, but it was quite a traumatic time, and to see your child injured is awful.

“The person that did it may not have meant to hurt him, or anyone, but you don’t go out with a pocket full of ball bearings without the intention of doing something stupid with them.

“It’s just an unfortunate consequence of teenagers thinking it’s acceptable to even carry these things.”

Marie said she had received a lot of support from people who saw her post online, and that she was “really grateful” to Wiltshire Police and St John Ambulance volunteers.

“It just makes us feel quite nicely supported,” she added.