A gunman who opened fire on an unmarked police car in Neasden could have hit two plain-clothes officers who standing near the vehicle, it has been revealed.

The officers, and a third who was inside the car, escaped injury after at least two shots hit the car in Mitchell Way on the St Raphael’s Estate on Saturday morning at around 12.25am.

Shots were also fired at road signs on the estate.

A resident, who asked not to be named, told the Times the shooting could be connected to feuding gangs as bad feelings between rivals have been simmering since last week.

He said: “If you enter the estate from a certain road you are seen as an outsider. They might have thought the car was being driven by rivals.”

Detectives from the Met’s Trident and Area Crime Command, a team that probe’s gang-connected crimes, are investigating the incident.

Anyone with information should call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.