A builder says he was lucky to avoid a horrific head-on smash after a driver veered across the road while looking at his phone.

Scott Davis, 59, from Herne, captured the near-miss on a dashboard camera in his Mitsubishi as he drove through Blean, in Canterbury.

The footage shows a car travelling in the opposite direction drifting across the centre of the road and into his path, causing him to pull sharply over to the verge to miss the vehicle.

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Dad-of-two Mr Davis, who runs Quality Construction, said: “It happened very quickly but I could see the other driver looking down like he was texting.

“He was almost certainly looking at his phone and only glanced up at the very last moment and swerved back onto his side of the road.

“If he hadn’t in that split-second, there would have been a head-on crash because I had nowhere to go to avoid him, having pulled over as much as I could.

VIDEO: Moment builder avoids collision (note - time stamp incorrect)

Mr Davis’s son, Spencer, uploaded the video to Facebook, sparking angry comments about drivers using mobile phones.

Mr Davis, a grandad-of-10, said: “I see people on their phones while driving all the time, despite the fact you can get fined and points on your license.

“It’s just a very dangerous thing to do and I think I was lucky not to be involved in a big smash.”

Using a phone while driving, unless hands-free, renders offenders liable to a fixed penalty notice with three penalty points on their licence and a £100 fine.

But there are calls to make the penalty tougher because of the prevalence of the offence. The government is considering raising it to four points and a £150 fine.