Top Gear's Hammond making a 'remarkable recovery'

The star has started reading car magazines again and even talked about resuming filming of the top BBC show as early as January, saying: "I just want to get back in the driving seat."

Hammond, 36, a father-of-two, almost died when he crashed a jet-propelled Vampire dragster during a stunt for the popular television motoring programme back in September.

After being airlifted to hospital in Leeds, doctors operated to relieve a blood cut on the brain. Fortunately, however, he suffered no broken bones or major bruising, although friends say he was "lucky" not to have lost his left eye.

And just days after the smash he asked friends, including co-presenter Jeremy Clarkson, whether he had been "driving like a t**t".

Ten days later he was airlifted to a private hospital in the Clifton area of Bristol, a short drive form his Gloucestershire home, where he was being visited on a daily basis by his wife, Mindy.

Last week, however, he was released and taken to a secret address to continue his recuperation in private. His agent told the Mail: "Yes, he is out of hospital and he is doing absolutely fine."

Although his prognosis is remarkably good, Hammond's close friend and fellow Top Gear presenter, James May, revealed that he is suffering from short-term memory loss, however. Doctors are also monitoring him carefully for signs of seizures.

"Fortunately it's only short-term memory. He knows who people are, his wife and kids, but he forgets that he talked to me that morning, or whatever," Mr May told the Sunday Expresss.

"We started taking the mickey with him straight after the accident wondering it would cheer him up but I don't think he has any recollection of it.

"The last time I spoke to him I was easily on the phone with him for 45 minutes. We were having a good laugh about his memory, actually. He was saying he'd had macaroni cheese in hospital and he was excited because he hadn't had it for 20 years. And then he thought maybe he'd had it yesterday, but he wasn't sure.

"He's not better - even with the best will in the world - but his prognosis is very good. We just have to wait. He has just got to recuperate and get his memory back."

Hammond says that it is the thought of his wife and two children, Isabella, five, and two-year-old Willow which is helping to push forward his recovery.

He told a friend: "I couldn't bear the thought of losing them. After the accident all I wanted to do was to see them again. seeing Izzy and Willow was such a boost."

His consultant neurosurgeon, Stuart Ross, also predicted that his patient would be "back to his old self" within six months. "He has a significant brain injury.

"He must rest and allow his brain to recover which takes time. But I am sure that once that period is over Richard will be back to his old self."

Only weeks before the crash, Hammond revealed that his wife Mindy had begged him to stop his daredevil stunts, saying: "She gets cross if I really risk it. But she trusts me. I've got kids and would only take calculated risks."

Police and healthy and safety officials have launched an investigation into the accident while the BBC has indefinitely postponed showing re-runs of the programme.

But Hammond has called on them to put the programme back on the screen, saying: "They shouldn't do it for my sake."