A six-year-old boy was left with serious head injuries after falling from a horse.

It is believed the youngster, named locally as Ben, was kicked in the head while riding near his home.

The boy was whisked to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton after being treated by paramedics and a crew from Sussex Air Ambulance.

Yesterday neighbours of Ben’s family in The Haven, close to Billingshurst said people were very concerned about the youngster.

One woman, said: “I heard he fell off his horse and he was hurt so ambulances were called.

“He was apparently riding with his mother near to his home when it happened and he was taken to hospital in Brighton.”

A witness to the incident at 1.45am said: “I saw ambulances in the road and there was a little boy lying on the floor. He looked as though he had been thrown off his horse.

“I heard he had been taken to hospital and kept in overnight but had since recovered.”

A South East Coast Ambulance spokesman said: “The incident took place in Haven Road, near Billingshurst.

“The child, a six-year-old boy, suffered a head injury.

“He was taken to hospital.”

A Sussex Air Ambulance report said the helicopter took five minutes to arrive at the scene and landed in a field close to where the incident happened.

They described the victim as being “kicked by a horse [and] unconscious.”