Gibraltar drags David Cameron into row over Spain jet-ski shooting

Gibraltar's chief minister today vowed to drag David Cameron into a growing diplomatic crisis after Spanish police allegedly fired shots at a British jet-skier in waters around the Rock.

Fabian Picardo said the incident was “so serious” he would sidestep normal diplomatic channels and write directly to the Prime Minister.

It comes after Dale Villa, 32, claimed a Spanish Civil Guard officer shot at him four times — possibly with rubber bullets — on Sunday in British waters around the disputed territory.

The incident provoked a furious response from Britain with Europe Minister David Lidington describing it as “unacceptable”.

This morning Spain appeared to up the ante when a Civil Guard vessel made an incursion into British waters. The boat was pictured heading to waters off the Rock from its base in the southern port of Algeciras, then leaving before returning 20 minutes later.

Mr Picardo said Mr Lidington had taken the right step by raising the matter with Spanish counterpart Inigo Mendez de Vigo and asking Britain’s chargé d’affaires in Madrid to make a formal protest. He added: “This incident, given what has now been established, is so serious that it is right that I should refer it directly to the Prime Minister. I will be doing so.”

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is aware of the incident. David Lidington has urged Señor Mendez de Vigo to investigate urgently and to take action to ensure that this will not happen again.”

Madrid insists no shots were fired and accused the British Government of endorsing “false rumours”.

Mr Villa, a delivery driver, was born in Gibraltar. He said today: “I was fired upon at least four times by a Civil Guard vessel within British Gibraltar Territorial Waters for no reason whatsoever.

“I had to perform evasive manoeuvres in order to avoid being an easy target for the person carrying the weapon. Not 10 minutes earlier I had a 10-year-old girl on my jet ski — can you imagine the trauma she would have suffered?”

Unconfirmed local reports said a Civil Guard officer had fired rubber bullets from a rapid response vessel called Rio Cedena. But a spokesman for Spain’s Foreign Ministry “categorically” rejected the reports, insisting: “Not a single shot was fired.”