THE condition of a boy who suffered serious head injuries when he was hit by a van was improving last night.

A police spokesman said that the 12-year-old Grainville pupil was in a stable condition. His condition had previously been described as critical, but stable. The boy was involved in an accident with a small blue van at the foot of St Saviour’s Hill at around 4.20 pm on Tuesday, the first day of the new school term.

When paramedics arrived, he was lying unconscious on the pavement and he had not regained consciousness by the time he had been taken to the General Hospital. Within hours, the decision was taken to airlift him to a specialist paediatric unit in the UK, and he was flown by helicopter to Southampton at around 10.30 pm on Tuesday.

A police spokesman said last night that the boy, whose name has not been released, was expected to remain at the Hampshire hospital for the next 48 hours. The police have made no comment about how the collision occurred, but officers have spoken to the van driver. The force spokesman said that inquiries were continuing and appealed for any witnesses to come forward by ringing 612612.

• Police at the scene after the accident