A NURSE pleaded yesterday for every effort to be made to catch two

armed robbers who shot and seriously injured her father during a raid at

a scrap metal processors in Lanarkshire.

Mr William Reid, 61, a transport manager at Henderson Kerr Ltd, in

Kirklee Road, Mossend, was hit on the head with a hammer then shot in

the stomach. The two masked men fled empty-handed.

The detective leading the inquiry has described the assault as

''brutal and cowardly''. He said Mr Reid, who was said to be improving

and in ''great spirits'' after emergency surgery, was ''fortunate to be

alive''.

His daughter, Mrs Anne Kelly, 29, was on duty in the X-ray department

at Monklands District General Hospital, Airdrie on Thursday when she

learned that her father had been shot and was being admitted for an

emergency operation.

Mr Reid's wife Annie, 59, had just returned to the couple's home in

Carlisle Road, Airdrie, from St Edward's Chapel in the town.

The couple's son Jim, 36, works for a pharmaceutical company in Basle,

Switzerland. He is on his way home to see his father with his wife

Karen, 30, and children Sarah Jane, 10, and Steven, eight.

Mr Reid, a fervent supporter of Airdrieonians Football Club, spoke to

his daughter and wife shortly before the operation, Mrs Kelly said.

Among his first words to his wife and daughter were that he was going

to miss his club's match today.

Former Airdrie and Scotland manager Ally McLeod and Airdrie players

had all sent their best wishes to her father, his daughter told a news

conference at Motherwell police headquarters yesterday.

''He told me to look out for my mum and that he was going to be

alright,'' she said.

Mrs Kelly said her father ''was the most generous, kind, considerate

man, you could hope to meet''.

Brushing back tears, she added: ''I can't believe that anybody would

do that to my dad. And everybody who knows him feels the same. No-one

has ever had a grudge against him in his life.''

She appealed for anyone with information that could assist in catching

the men to contact the police.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Dunn, who is leading the inquiry, said

Mr Reid had been ''shot in cold blood'' during a ''cowardly, brutal

attack by two desperate men''.

He explained that the masked attackers coolly entered the yard, where

15 men worked, at about 10.15am on Thursday. They climbed a set of metal

stairs into the weighbridge office, where they demanded money from Mr

Reid, who was on his own.

Mr Dunn said: ''The men shouted 'give us the money'. Mr Reid got up

and went for them and was struck on the head, partially disabled, and

then was hit in the body by a shot from a handgun.

''After the shot he collapsed on the floor, but picked up an empty

lemonade bottle to break a window within the office to alert other

members of staff as the two men made off.''

No other resistance was offered against the two men who are believed

to have escaped in a metallic blue or grey Rover Montego-type car which

may have been driven by a third man.

Anyone who has information on the attack is urged to phone

Crimestoppers, free, on 0800 555 111, or Motherwell CID on 0698 266144.