It may not be unusual to see a deer or a cow crossing Oklahoma's rural highways ... but one couple returning from church had an altogether bigger problem.

Bill and Deena Carpenter came within inches of a head-on collision with an elephant which had escaped from a nearby circus.

Mr Carpenter, 68, said: "I didn't have time to hit the brakes. The elephant blended in with the road. At the very last second I said 'elephant!'"