With his brooding good looks, tattoos and blond hair, David Garrett has been dubbed the Beckham of the violin.

But it was more like a stunt from a Mr Bean movie when the rising classical music star tripped and fell on his beloved 298-year-old Stradivarius after a concert at the Barbican.

The disaster left Garrett's rare instrument badly mangled and needing £60,000 worth of repairs.

It will be out of action for up to eight months with no guarantee it will ever sound as good again.

The accident meant the 26-year-old was left without a violin worthy of a virtuoso for a Valentine's Night concert - again at the Barbican - where he is due to play Bruch's Violin Concerto.

However, at the last minute he has been offered a loan of another Stradivarius from the "Golden Period" of 1705 to 1720.

It is being flown in from Milan to be presented to German-born Garrett by Marylebone violin dealers J&A Beare today.

The violin, made in 1718, is worth millions of pounds and comes with its own three-man security detail - led, coincidentally, by David Beckham's former minder Paul Hughes.

Garrett said: "I had just played a concert. I was all packed up and ready to go when I slipped and fell. People said it was as if I'd trodden on a banana skin.

"I fell down a flight of steps and onto the case. When I opened it the violin was in pieces. I was just sitting there on the floor, I couldn't speak and I couldn't get up. I didn't even know if I was hurt - I didn't care," he said.

"I have had that violin for eight years. It was like losing a dear friend. I have been looking around for the past few weeks but I was starting to get scared. Then I got a call from my manager to say we have been offered a Golden Period Strad. The guy had heard my playing in Milan and said we could have it for nothing."

Garrett's managers at Universal have insisted on security and insurance. "Since I trashed one they are determined there is not going to be a second time," he said.