A workman caught hanging out the door of a van travelling at 85mph down the motorway says he was only doing it because he needed some fresh air . The man , wearing an orange high-vis jacket , could be seen leaning out the sliding door of the black Vauxhall Vivaro van as it hurtled down the outside lane of the M40 near Oxford . He appeared to be laughing and making jokes with his colleagues inside the KJ Rail van as he hung his body - and even a leg - out of the vehicle . Today his boss , who has called the man in for a disciplinary hearing , revealed that the man claims he was only leaning out of the door because he was n't feeling unwell and needed some fresh air . These shocking pictures show a workman hanging out of the door of a van as it speeds down the M40 . The man can be seen leaning out the side door of the black Vauxhall Vivaro van as it hurtled down the outside lane of the motorway . The incident , which police are investigating , is believed to have gone on for five minutes as the man pulled off the 'stunt ' just yards from lorries . Dave Roy , a director at KJ Rail , said the man , the driver and their colleagues in the van would be hauled before a disciplinary hearing tomorrow morning . 'We 're taking a robust approach to this and all of them will be in for a full disciplinary meeting first thing tomorrow , ' he said . 'He 's told me he was leaning out the door for some fresh air because he was feeling unwell and the next services were miles away . Having seen the pictures I 'm not so sure . 'KJ Rail does not condone this sort of behaviour and takes a firm stance against it . ' Mr Roy said the man could face the sack for the incident , which was captured by dentist James Hobkirk as he made his way down the M40 , travelling south from Manchester to Kent . 'My wife was driving and she spotted something strange in the rear view mirror , ' Mr Hobkirk , 37 , said . He appeared to be laughing and making jokes with his colleagues inside the KJ Rail van as he hung his body - and even a leg - out of the vehicle . The incident , which police are investigating , went on for five minutes , as the man pulled off the 'stunt ' just yards from lorries . ' I turned around and there was this guy in the outside lane hanging out of the van , saluting people as he went past . 'We were travelling about 65 in the middle lane and he came flying up behind us . He must have been doing about 80 , 85 . 'He was just hanging out the side door for about five minutes . He 's obviously a complete nut job . 'People were moving in to the middle lane to get out of the way . It 's like he was surfing . 'There were about four people in the back of the van and two in the front . They were all laughing . 'It 's not just dangerous , he was an idiot . Going high speed in the outside lane and doing that is crazy . ' KJ Rail , which owns the van , said it was investigating and that the man was likely to be punished . Thames Valley Police are also investigating the incident , which took place on Friday afternoon . A spokesman said : 'Thames Valley Police received a report of a man hanging out of a side door of a vehicle while travelling on the M40 motorway between junctions 9 and 8a southbound on Friday at 1.15pm . 'Officers attended the scene and carried out an area search however the vehicle was not located . Enquiries are ongoing to trace the occupants of the vehicle . ' Philip Goose , senior community engagement officer at Brake , the road safety charity , said : 'Driving is the most dangerous thing we do on a daily basis . 'It is worth remembering that five people die every day on roads in the UK , and being in charge of a heavy , fast moving object has the potential to , and regularly does , kill and seriously injure individuals and tears apart families . 'Driving deserves our full attention , and irresponsible behaviour such as this and driving at excessive speed greatly increases the chance of being involved in a fatal or life-changing crash . '
Man seen leaning out of sliding door of work van in middle of motorway . He appeared to be laughing as he dangled leg outside of the KJ Rail van . His boss says man claims he was getting some 'fresh air ' as he was unwell . Police and employers are investigating and man could face the sack .