A SCOTS soldier who suffered a severe brain injury in Afghanistan has been airlifted back to the UK.

1SCOTS rifleman Dean Stenhouse suffered head trauma, a shattered pelvis, a dislocated hip and a broken wrist when his patrol vehicle overturned while he was on duty in Kabul.

The 25-year-old from Tarbolton in South Ayrshire is now undergoing extensive treatment at the Fisher House military hospital in Birmingham.

His sister, Kirsty Pope, 37, said: "He's also lost a finger and up until now, has had no movement in his body at all.

"All we've been told by the army is that it was a vehicle incident, a Foxhound vehicle which overturned, but we don't know why or how this has happened."

More than 100 soldiers from 1SCOTS were deployed on a five-month tour to Kabul in August this year and are due to return in December.

The deployment meant that Mr Stenhouse missed the birth of his first daughter, Aela, now almost four weeks old.

Ms Pope said: "She has been taken down there so he can see her. He can't move or communicate at all but it feels as though he's watching her when we bring her into the room."

Doctors have told the soldier's family it is too early to tell when he can recover from his brain damage.

A spokesman from the MoD said: "We can confirm a soldier has been injured in a vehicle incident in Afghanistan.

"He has since been flown back to the UK for treatment and his injuries are believed to be serious but not life threatening."