He is one of the best sharp shooters in the country but a school IT manager from New Addington still has some way to go before he hits his ultimate target.

Peter Friend is the National Smallbore Rifle Association (NSRA)/ELEY national postal champion.

He is also the Sussex Open champion and blew away the competition in his first international event.

He finished fourth in the England Smallbore Shooting Open, behind shooters returning from the Commonwealth Games, and has been selected to represent England.

However, Peter, who lives in Parkway, needs sponsorship to get to the 2012 Olympics.

The 35-year-old, who took up the sport 15 years ago and fires with the Addiscombe Rifle Club, said: "I had a sponsor but they have gone as far as they can.

"They have been a really big help but I am trying to get to the next step and the only way is to shoot more European events and travel abroad, but the only way I can do that is with help.

"The 2012 Olympics is a goal of mine but I need the European competitions to get up to that standard.

"I need to be prepared to go for a European or world championship by 2009 and if I can do that, my goal is the Olympics."

It costs Peter around £500 to go abroad for a competition and he has already paid more than £2,500 on his state-of-the-art pistols.

He also runs and cycles every week to remain physically fit while training at his rifle club four times a week.

Peter faces a lot of competition from within the UK as the nation is traditionally strong in the sport.

He said: "Even though we're a small nation of shooters we're quite serious and the competitions which are run here are very good. What we don't do, because of the gun bans, is advertise ourselves enough.

"Since Dunblane and similar incidents, it is very hard to say I am a shooter'.

"I rarely tell people because they say shooting is a bad thing but to be honest shooting is a lot safer than any other sport I know.

"I have never known an accident in shooting whereas in sports like rugby people are being injured week-in, week-out. It is a serious sport, I have to train hard."