Teenage motocross rider Pat Stott is in a critical condition in hospital after breaking his neck in two places while taking part in a race in Hampshire on Sunday.

His parents Andy and Sarah Stott, of Homefields, in Marlborough, who have three other younger children, remained at his bedside yesterday at Southampton General Hospital together with Pat’s girlfriend Jade Floyd.

Pat, 18, who is a green keeper at Ogbourne Chase Golf Club, was left unconscious after falling from his 250cc Suzuki racer while competing in a regional championship meeting at Elvetham, near Basingstoke.

Pat’s father and Ivor Blake, the father of Pat’s best friend, were watching the race.

Friends and relatives said yesterday that Pat had fractured the third and fourth vertebrae in his neck and doctors had said that his spinal cord was swollen and they were still assessing his condition. There was also concern over possible brain damage because he was starved of oxygen for a while following the crash.

They said the hospital was keeping Pat unconscious to help him recover from the trauma, although on Monday he opened his eyes and looked around the intensive care unit where he remained last night.

His best friend and riding partner Jordan Blake, of St Martins, in Marlborough, was immediately behind him in the race.

He said: “Pat was just ahead of me when I saw him hit a jump and fall off. I was panicking because I could see he was knocked out.”

Jordan said he was concerned at the way trackside first aiders removed Pat’s helmet and protective neck brace, which all motocross riders wear, and moved him onto a stretcher without a surgical neck brace while he was still unconscious.

He said: “They put him in a Land Rover ambulance and bumped off down the track to the end where they waited for a proper ambulance.

“My dad and Pat’s dad went over to the ambulance and were with him.”

The ambulance initially took Pat to Basingstoke Hospital but he was transferred to intensive care at Southampton General.

Nobody from Southern Motocross who organised the meeting was available to comment yesterday.

Pat, a former St John’s student, started motocross racing when he was still at junior school.