Chris Meehan, the jockey who hit the headlines after being run over by an ambulance, hopes to return to competitive action within the next two months.

The 22-year-old conditional rider from County Down suffered a nasty fall at Merano racecourse in Italy at the start of the month, getting a kick to the face that knocked him unconscious and causing him to need 27 stitches to a gash along his jaw.

However, those injuries paled into insignificance within minutes as the ambulance that arrived on the scene to treat him reversed over his outstretched leg and came to rest while still on top of him.

Meehan – whose father has worked in the ambulance service in Northern Ireland for 30 years – returned to Ireland for surgery on his broken leg and facial injuries and is now continuing his recovery at home.

He said: “Things are going well. I had the operation and it’s just a case of recovery now.

“It will be another six weeks, I’d say, and probably two months until I’m race-riding again.”

Meehan, who had been based with Jonathan Geake in Wiltshire, appears unlikely to return to Italy this autumn.

He is hoping to make the most of his British-based contacts when he does come back.

He said: “The season in Merano ends in October, so whether I would be able to get back in time I’m not sure.”