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Jeremy Clarkson 'stoned' as Top Gear crew abandon cars and flee Argentina
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May flee Argentina under police escort after locals stone cars and Top Gear crew in a row over a Porsche number plate
The Top Gear cars, including Jeremy Clarkson's Porsche with the controversial Falklands number plate removed, in a garage in Argentina.
Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear team were forced to flee Argentina and abandon three high-powered cars after they were pelted with stones by locals angered by the presenter's number plate apparently referencing the Falklands War.
The crew of the BBC Two show had earlier been given an ultimatum by Argentine veterans of the war to leave the country or "face the consequences".
They had provoked anger by using a 1991 Porsche 928GT coupé with the registration number H982 FKL, which politicians and army veterans suggested could be seen to refer to the Falklands conflict.
Mr Clarkson's Porsche was abandoned by the side of the road along with the Lotus and Ford Mustang used by his co-presenters after they came under attack from locals.
Initially, the cars were thought to have been left behind in storage after Clarkson and his Top Gear team were warned to leave Tierra del Fuego.
However, it emerged on Friday that the production crew abandoned the damaged vehicles at a police checkpoint on route to Chile after locals stoned them near the town of Tolhuin.
Film crew reportedly told officers at the first checkpoint they reached after passing through Tolhuin: "We're leaving the cars, we don't want more problems. Burn them if you want but we're getting out of here."
An Argentinian technician hired for the Top Gear shoot is said to have been injured after a stone thrown by one of the demonstrators hit him in the face.
The BBC confirmed that the cast and crew had left the country, but Top Gear producers insisted the plate had not been chosen deliberately and was a pure coincidence.
Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano said the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang Mustang Richard Hammond was driving were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war.
He added that the numbers 646 on James May's Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties.
Local war veteran association member Osvaldo Hilliar, referring to the Falklands by their Spanish name, said: "Our position from the outset was to demand the withdrawal of the TV team from our province, which includes the Malvinas, by 8pm on Thursday, with the warning we'd organise a demonstration to reject their provocation if not.
"What they did was an offence that through no coincidence was committed in the capital of the Malvinas, without any regard to local feeling about this cause.
"They said they didn't want to upset anyone but we know the British have lied for the last 200 years. We told them we couldn't guarantee their security if they didn't leave."
The Top Gear cast and crew are understood to have left Argentina following a meeting at Hotel Arakur in Ushuaia, where they were staying.
Mariano Plecity, a regional government minister, who attended the meeting as a mediator, said afterwards: "The British group agreed to leave Tierra del Fuego voluntarily before the deadline was up, with some leaving by air and others by road."
He later tweeted a link to an article in a local paper which said: "Government expels the English Top Gear producers from the province."
The paper reported: "It provided two police cars to escort them to the border with Chile and abandon Tierra del Fuego."
Clarkson's Porsche was given permission to enter Argentina by the country's Foreign Affairs ministry.
He flew into Buenos Aires on September 17 before heading to the ski resort of Bariloche to start a 1,350 mile filmed trek along the country's famous Patagonian Highway - route 40 - to the world's southernmost city of Ushuaia.
The controversy over his number plate erupted as he neared the city.
Local government chief Sergio Araque said: "We share the opinion of the Ushuaia War Veterans Association, that this was intentional provocation by the Top Gear team, and agreed that they should leave Tierra del Fuego province by yesterday/Thursday afternoon.
"We provided two police cars to escort them to the border with Chile and asked the Director of Borders to corroborate that they had left the same night."
The executive producer of Top Gear, Andy Wilman, said: "Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme; to suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original is completely untrue."
Mr Clarkson is no stranger to controversy. In 2012 the Indian High Commission in London formally complained to the BBC about an India special in which Mr Clarkson travelled round the country in a Jaguar with a toilet fixed to the boot.
In August Ofcom ruled he deliberately used racist language when he referred to an Asian man as a 'slope' during Top Gear's Burma special.
A spokesman from the BBC said: "No comment right now".
Jeremy Clarkson 'stoned' as Top Gear crew abandon cars and flee Argentina - Telegraph
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May flee Argentina under police escort after locals stone cars and Top Gear crew in a row over a Porsche number plate
The Top Gear cars, including Jeremy Clarkson's Porsche with the controversial Falklands number plate removed, in a garage in Argentina.
Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear team were forced to flee Argentina and abandon three high-powered cars after they were pelted with stones by locals angered by the presenter's number plate apparently referencing the Falklands War.
The crew of the BBC Two show had earlier been given an ultimatum by Argentine veterans of the war to leave the country or "face the consequences".
They had provoked anger by using a 1991 Porsche 928GT coupé with the registration number H982 FKL, which politicians and army veterans suggested could be seen to refer to the Falklands conflict.
Mr Clarkson's Porsche was abandoned by the side of the road along with the Lotus and Ford Mustang used by his co-presenters after they came under attack from locals.
Initially, the cars were thought to have been left behind in storage after Clarkson and his Top Gear team were warned to leave Tierra del Fuego.
However, it emerged on Friday that the production crew abandoned the damaged vehicles at a police checkpoint on route to Chile after locals stoned them near the town of Tolhuin.
Film crew reportedly told officers at the first checkpoint they reached after passing through Tolhuin: "We're leaving the cars, we don't want more problems. Burn them if you want but we're getting out of here."
An Argentinian technician hired for the Top Gear shoot is said to have been injured after a stone thrown by one of the demonstrators hit him in the face.
The BBC confirmed that the cast and crew had left the country, but Top Gear producers insisted the plate had not been chosen deliberately and was a pure coincidence.
Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano said the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang Mustang Richard Hammond was driving were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war.
He added that the numbers 646 on James May's Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties.
Local war veteran association member Osvaldo Hilliar, referring to the Falklands by their Spanish name, said: "Our position from the outset was to demand the withdrawal of the TV team from our province, which includes the Malvinas, by 8pm on Thursday, with the warning we'd organise a demonstration to reject their provocation if not.
"What they did was an offence that through no coincidence was committed in the capital of the Malvinas, without any regard to local feeling about this cause.
"They said they didn't want to upset anyone but we know the British have lied for the last 200 years. We told them we couldn't guarantee their security if they didn't leave."
The Top Gear cast and crew are understood to have left Argentina following a meeting at Hotel Arakur in Ushuaia, where they were staying.
Mariano Plecity, a regional government minister, who attended the meeting as a mediator, said afterwards: "The British group agreed to leave Tierra del Fuego voluntarily before the deadline was up, with some leaving by air and others by road."
He later tweeted a link to an article in a local paper which said: "Government expels the English Top Gear producers from the province."
The paper reported: "It provided two police cars to escort them to the border with Chile and abandon Tierra del Fuego."
Clarkson's Porsche was given permission to enter Argentina by the country's Foreign Affairs ministry.
He flew into Buenos Aires on September 17 before heading to the ski resort of Bariloche to start a 1,350 mile filmed trek along the country's famous Patagonian Highway - route 40 - to the world's southernmost city of Ushuaia.
The controversy over his number plate erupted as he neared the city.
Local government chief Sergio Araque said: "We share the opinion of the Ushuaia War Veterans Association, that this was intentional provocation by the Top Gear team, and agreed that they should leave Tierra del Fuego province by yesterday/Thursday afternoon.
"We provided two police cars to escort them to the border with Chile and asked the Director of Borders to corroborate that they had left the same night."
The executive producer of Top Gear, Andy Wilman, said: "Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme; to suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or that an alternative number plate was substituted for the original is completely untrue."
Mr Clarkson is no stranger to controversy. In 2012 the Indian High Commission in London formally complained to the BBC about an India special in which Mr Clarkson travelled round the country in a Jaguar with a toilet fixed to the boot.
In August Ofcom ruled he deliberately used racist language when he referred to an Asian man as a 'slope' during Top Gear's Burma special.
A spokesman from the BBC said: "No comment right now".
Jeremy Clarkson 'stoned' as Top Gear crew abandon cars and flee Argentina - Telegraph
Argentineans have self-respect
