With the view of the iconic O2 Arena in the background, a daredevil rider has performed a death-defying stunt.

Action sports icon Travis Pastrana gave himself the challenge to complete a 75-foot-wide backflip on his trusty motorbike.

The catch was the jump would not be in a controlled indoor environment, but on a pair of barges on the windy waves of the Thames off the riverfront in Greenwich.

The barges were 120 feet out from the embankment without any mooring lines tied to the shore or even to each other.

With the tiny barges using up a lot of space for the actual ramp itself, Pastrana only had 150 feet to accelerate to take-off speed.

Even if he successfully completed the backflip, the daredevil only had 36 feet to come to a stop or else risk plummeting into the water of the Thames.

A similar stunt had been tried before in 2006 with Mike Metzger in Long Beach harbour, but that time he crashed and fractured his vertebra.

Although that stuntman made a full recovery, nobody had attempted the jump again, until yesterday (October 5).

Despite the windy weather, Pastrana was able to angle his motorbike into the wind to direct him back on course with a safe landing.

Speaking after the jump he said: “One of the scariest stunts just because there are so many factors that are outside of your control.

“Luckily today everything lined up, the rain went away - it dried up enough that it wasn’t too slick.

“There was a pretty good side-wind but it was fairly consistent so I aimed a little left and it was like a gold ball. Blew me right back to the centre so it was perfect.”