A 21-YEAR-OLD man injured in an accident on the Worting Road last week is back in Basingstoke hospital.

On Thursday Sam Morris, of Tweedsmuir Close, Buckskin, was well enough to return to Basingstoke from Southampton hospital's specialist neurological unit, although he remains dazed, confused and heavily sedated.

Sam's father Peter and his mother Linda, who work alongside their son and his sister Nicola at Carey's barbers in Church Street, have kept up a bedside vigil with other members of the close-knit family since Sam was taken to hospital early last Monday.

In between hospital visits, Mrs Morris told The Gazette: "He is still in a bad way. He has a punctured lung, broken ribs and we still don't know if he can see out of his left eye as the socket is smashed in.

"It's a relief to have him back in his home town. He is in bad shape but at least he's still with us, that is the main thing.

"Once he is feeling a bit better they will begin rebuilding his face, which will be a much longer job."

Sam, who plays left wing for Trinity Aerospace with his brother Lee, 25, was returning home after a night out with friends celebrating winning their football match earlier on Sunday when the accident happened.

* Mark Stephen Fox, 25, from Brighton Hill, has been charged with driving with excess alcohol following the accident and will appear before Basingstoke magistrates on Tuesday, January 23.