BBC put Clarkson out in the cold

TOP GEAR presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s contract will not be renewed after he allegedly punched and verbally abused a producer, the BBC has announced.

Weeks of speculation over Clarkson’s fate were brought to an end on Wednesday when the BBC director-general Tony Hall announced that the decision not to renew his contract was taken with “great regret.” He went on to say: “It is not a decision I have taken lightly.”

Mr Hall said he had met and spoken to both men involved in the altercation and was publishing the findings of the BBC’s internal investigation, though he added that he took “no pleasure” in doing so.

“I cannot condone what has happened on this occasion. A member of staff, who is a completely innocent party, took himself to Accident and Emergency after a physical altercation accompanied by sustained and prolonged verbal abuse of an extreme nature.

“For me a line has been crossed. There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.”

Jeremy Clarkson has yet to comment on the issue, but there is speculation that he will be returning to screens in May as the host of the popular BBC TV panel show, Have I Got News For You.