Clarkson in trouble again

The BBC is facing calls to sack the Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson after he boasted of driving at 186mph on a public road.

Mr Clarkson, 48, told an audience at the literary festival in Hay-on-Wye in Powys, that he got a "great" speeding ticket while driving a Bugatti Veyron supercar at 186mph in the Limehouse Link between central London and Docklands.

He hastily attempted to backtrack on his remarks to claim it must have been someone else as he was not convicted of the offence at court. He later described speed limits as "annoying for people who have a job to do".

The road safety charity Brake called on the BBC to sack him for his "offensive and irresponsible" comments.

Mary Williams, the chief executive, said: "He is the most appalling role model for our next generation of drivers. The BBC should sack him. He is totally out of control.

"Public money through the BBC should not fund such an irresponsible character who makes such dangerous comments."

Steve Mohabir, 39, from Godalming, in Surrey, was the only survivor of a collision with a speeding BMW that killed eight people on the A23 at Pyecombe near Brighton in May 2004. Among the dead was his two-year-old son, Marcus.

Mr Mohabir said: "It [186mph] is double the speed of the driver that hit us and if Jeremy Clarkson is saying you can double that speed then you might as well double the outcome which would have left 16 people dead."

Mr Clarkson's comments were made on Tuesday evening. He said: "I got a great speeding ticket. I think it was 186 in the Limehouse Link. Well, somebody did. Obviously it might not have been me."

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "He made a flippant remark. Of course he wouldn't drive at 186mph through the Limehouse Link."

A spokeswoman for Mr Clarkson's management company declined to comment.