[Iceman]

MOTOR racing legend Sir Stirling Moss is recovering in hospital after he was nearly killed falling down a lift shaft at home.

Sir Stirling tumbled 30 feet and broke both his ankles, suffering four broken bones, gashes and four chipped vertebrae.

He underwent surgery to have pins and plates attached to his shattered bones after the fall from the third floor of his swanky pad in London's Mayfair on Saturday.

Sir Stirling, 80, had expected the lift to be waiting when he walked through the doors.

Instead a malfunction had jammed the carriage but allowed the shutters to open.

He was last night said to be 'comfortable' in a London hospital.

A family friend said: "Stirling was seriously injured after what was a horrific accident but he is in good spirits and won't let this beat him.

"He was nearly killed several times during his career and always bounced back. This is no different."

Sir Stirling won 16 Formula One Grand Prixs and was dubbed 'the greatest driver never to win the World Championship'.

He retired aged just 32 after a horrific car crash in his famous blue Lotus that left him in a coma for 38 days and paralysed for six months.