A UK van driver on his way to last weekend’s Anthony Joshua title fight almost received his own knockout blow when a 12ft steel pipe flew off a truck coming in the opposite direction and smashed into his own vehicle.

Shocking dash cam footage shows the moment County Durham-based Carl Graven's van was struck by the pipe from an oncoming van.

As the flat-bed vehicle passes Graven and his girlfriend Kerry on the A68 between Tow Law and Bishop Auckland, the long beam swings down and collides with the front of his Volkswagen Transporter.

A shocked Graven stopped his van and took the details of the passing van.

Pictures of the aftermath show the front of Graven's van had been badly smashed up and was "underivable", according to the plumber.

Graven and Kerry were uninjured, but he believes they would have been "in a body bag" had their vehicle been a regular one and not a van.