A NEW air ambulance will soon take to the skies thanks to the generosity of fans of Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond.

Almost £250,000 has been donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance since the presenter's 288mph crash at Elvington airfield, near York, in September.

The charity had been raising money to buy a second helicopter for some time, but the flood of donations has brought forward the plans by a year.

It is expected to be named the "Hammycopter" in honour of Mr Hammond.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance chief executive Martin Eede said it should be operational next year.

He said: "The £250,000 is directly attributable to Richard's accident, but we have also noticed a massive upsurge in general donations since then.

"We are going to lease the aircraft for 12 months to make sure it is the right one for us because it is an investment in our future."

If a success, it will be bought for an estimated £1.5m at the end of the lease. It is hoped it will be capable of night flying. One of the helicopters is likely to be based in North Yorkshire and the other in South Yorkshire.

Fans of Mr Hammond set up an appeal to raise funds for the air ambulance after it flew him to Leeds General Infirmary when the jet-powered dragster he was driving crashed. Mr Eede said: "I have been chatting to the Top Gear people and they could not come up with anything more naff than the Hammycopter. It seems to have stuck. Everyone at Top Gear has been really supportive, and it is good that something so positive has come out of what happened."

Mr Hammond is out of hospital and making a steady recovery.