A MAN shot in the head as he grappled with armed intruders at his North Yorkshire country mansion has been released from hospital.

Oil company director Peter Stephenson, 52, was injured as he confronted three men seen on his estate at Kepwick Hall, near Thirsk.

His partner Karen Dewer, who was with him during the shooting, was described as shocked, but uninjured.

The intruders, two white men and a black man, escaped after stealing a car belonging to Mr Stephenson's daughter, Rachel, who arrived at the hall as her father was shot.

Police launched a nationwide hunt for the men after the incident on Tuesday night.

Mr Stephenson is thought to have grabbed the barrel of a shotgun after it was fired by one of the men.

A second shot caught him on the head.

He was released from Northallerton's Friarage Hospital late last night where he had been treated for a laceration to the head.

North Yorkshire Police's investigating officer DI Debbie Matthews said: "This is an extremely rare crime in North Yorkshire, but it was very violent and we are warning anybody who sees anything that these men were armed."

She said 20 police officers had been assigned to the case. Door-to-door inquiries were being carried out and forensic work done at the hall. Extra patrols would also be conducted in the village.

Every force in the country has been given details of the stolen car, a silver Peugeot 206 with the registration number W783 WAJ. The crime has shocked the local community. A neighbour, who asked not to be named but who retired to Kepwick, said: "I don't know Mr Stephenson well, but I used to see him driving past and he'd always wave. He seems very friendly.

Mr Stephenson, who is chairman of gas rig specialist Able UK, is thought to have bought the Kepwick Hall estate three years ago.

Updated: 11:35 Thursday, August 01, 2002