There has long been a stigma attached to van drivers in the UK, sometimes referred to as 'white van drivers' due to the common selection of white for such vehicles' paintwork.

But new data revealed by the government demonstrates that van drivers are in fact far less likely to be involved in an accident than a driver of a car.

One out of every 261 vans was involved in a road incident last year, compared to one in every 146 cars.

The recorded incidents range from minor scrapes to fatal accidents. Of the 3.3 million vans in the UK, 12,575 were involved in an accident.

While that figure is high, there were 197,388 accidents involving cars, from a car count of 28.7 million.

Crunch down this data and it reveals that vans have a 0.38 per cent chance of being involved in a scrape, while for cars this figure almost doubles to 0.69 per cent.

However, of all vehicle types, coaches and buses were most likely to be involved in an accident, with a one in 26 accident rate. In part this may be because such expensive vehicles are used as much as possible by their operators.

The HGV crash rate was one in 68.

The data relating to vans suggests Britons' prejudice towards van drivers is unfounded. A survey by a leading breakdown insurance provider revealed that 54 per cent of UK drivers think van drivers take less care than other road users.