IT’S enough to make you choke on your cooked breakfast, splutter your builder’s tea across the current bun…

I mean…a stereotype is a stereotype, right?

Hmmm…perhaps not. Full English is going out of favour for healthy eating and regular trips to the gym.

It’s a terrible thought for ‘white van man’.

But apparently it’s true. A survey has said so.

In fact, the average van driver will work out twice a week, with more than one in 10 heading to the gym at least five times a week.

And instead of grabbing whatever they can on the go, one in seven will make their own packed lunch so they know exactly what they will be eating.

One in 10 also claim to eat a very healthy diet of fruit, vegetables and salad while on the road.

A spokesman for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which commissioned the study, said: “This research seems to show that nowadays, van drivers are leading a much healthier lifestyle than you might expect.”

And more than three quarters do at least one form of exercise every week, with those in the West Midlands the most active, working out an average of three times a week.

Scottish van drivers exercise the least.

It also emerged football is the sport of choice for 54 per cent of van drivers, but 29 per cent are more likely to be found watching or playing rugby.

Almost one in five name golf as their favourite activity, with tennis, snooker and cycling also popular among van drivers.

Twelve per cent even said scuba diving was a much-loved hobby.

The study, via One Poll also revealed that many drivers claim to be more polite, patient and understanding on the road than the old ‘white van man’ stereotype would have you believe.

In fact 39 per cent are concerned about the stereotype associated with the white van driver, while 27 per cent went as far as to say they think it’s unfair.

Six in 10 say they are courteous drivers and half claim to be polite and understanding, while 47 per cent have stopped to help road users who have broken down or been involved in an accident.

More than a quarter of van drivers tune into the sounds of Radio 2 when driving, with 23 per cent enjoying Heart and one in 10 listening to Classic FM.

Of the 500 van drivers polled, 43 per cent of the respondents were women.

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