The student ended up cradled in the arms of a government minister with a bullet in his shoulder.

There are an average of 29 shootings a day in Britain, more than double than when Labour took power, according to the latest Home Office figures. The latest shooting comes after four men were given the “highest possible deterrent” after they fired into a crowd of partygoers in Birmingham, killing Charlene Ellis, 18, and Letisha Shakespeare, 17.

Charles Osei-Bonsu, 17, was shot as he left a community party in North London that was also attended by David Lammy, the Minister for Constitutional Affairs. It is believed that Mr Osei-Bonsu was the unintended victim of a gangland feud. He had been a guest at a party hosted by the the local Ghanaian community in the Broadwater Farm Estate at Tottenham, North London, where Pc Keith Blakelock was killed in a riot in 1985.

Shortly after midnight, Mr Lammy, who is the Labour MP for Tottenham, heard gunfire and people screaming. He ran outsideand saw Mr Osei-Bonsu lying on the pavement in a puddle of blood, writhing in agony.

A silver Fiat Punto was racing away, bouncing over speed humps.

Mr Lammy held Mr Osei-Bonsu as other guests called 999 and used clothing to stem the bleeding.

“It was extremely distressing to see a 17-year-old boy bleeding from a gun wound on one of our streets,” Mr Lammy said. “He was in incredible agony, screaming in pain.”

Last night, local people said the likable teenager had never been in trouble but was the victim of mistaken identity by troublemakers called the MOB gang from nearby Wood Green. They are rivals of the Farm Boys, from Broadwater Farm, and it is believed a feud has been developing since an incident several weeks ago.

An official on the estate said: “There has been a bit of a feud but it has obviously escalated with this shooting.

“I think there was a little incident that has just been blown out of all proportion to a level that half of the boys involved didn’t expect.”

Mr Osei-Bonsu was recovering yesterday at the North Middlesex Hospital with a gunshot wound to his shoulder. His mother, Victoria, and his younger sister Abigail and younger brother Godfrey, have also been to see him.

The shooting at Tottenham also raised concerns about the response of emergency services. When the call came to police that there had been a shooting, officers raced to Broadwater Farm Estate. But they did not go straight to the incident.

In line with normal procedure the officers waited where instructed by their control room for the ambulance and armed officers to arrive so they could establish whether it was safe to go into a situation where there may still have been an armed offender on the loose. The rendezvous point was in sight of partygoers who were waiting for help.

Mr Lammy eventually drove to the officers and convinced them it was safe for the ambulance to attend.

He has made a formal complaint to Chief Superintendent Stephen Bloomfield, the Haringey Borough Commander, and has asked Sir Ian Blair, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, to explain the delay.

A spokesman for London Ambulance said: “In line with the service’s protocol for such incidents, the ambulance crew and fast response car were sent to a nearby rendezvous point. They remained there until the police confirmed it was safe to proceed.”

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