TOP Gear presenter Richard Hammond continues to recover well in hospital, doctors said.

Fans donating cash for "Hammy's Heli" have now raised more than £150,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which flew him to Leeds General Infirmary.

Donations have been pouring in on a dedicated web page since the crash, with the total standing at £155,379 last night.

The Top Gear star was seriously injured on Wednesday when the Vampire dragster he was driving suffered a suspected tyre blow out at 280mph at Elvington Airfield, near York.

But doctors have said that since suffering a suspected brain injury he has recovered well in hospital, and has now been moved from high- dependency into a general ward.

A spokesman for Leeds General Infirmary said: "He's continuing to make good progress."

Mr Hammond, 36, was even well enough to be reunited with his two daughters, Isabella, five, and Willow, two, on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Top Gear frontman Jeremy Clarkson launched an impassioned plea for the BBC show to remain on the screen, rejecting calls for it either to be scrapped or watered down.

Writing in a national newspaper yesterday, he said: "So, even though the crash failed to kill Hammond, the forces are massing to destroy the show that made his name.

"It seems likely the front right tyre blew out, and there is no way that this could have been foreseen.

"It was something that in our risk-averse society, we can't understand any more. It was "an accident"."

You can donate to the fundraising site by logging on to: www.justgiving.com/ phrichardhammond