The Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has claimed he was thrown out of Argentina by state officials after thousands of people rounded on his crew in an apparent protest at a number licence plate that seemed to refer to the Falklands war.
After returning to Britain on Saturday morning, the presenter claimed on Twitter that “thousands” of people chased the crew from Patagonia, where they were filming, to the border with Chile.
“They threw us out for the political capital,” he tweeted. “Thousands chased crew to border. Someone could have been killed.”
They threw us out for the political capital. Thousands chased crew to border. Someone could have been killed.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
Clarkson rejected Argentinian claims that the Top Gear crew deliberately used a number plate that referred to the Falklands war.
The presenter had been driving a Porsche 928 with the plate H982 FKL, which Argentinians believed was a reference to the 1982 conflict, prompting a mob to hurl rocks and bricks at the vehicles being driven by Clarkson and his co-presenters, James May and Richard Hammond.
Clarkson insisted that the plate was “not a jolly jape that went awry. For once, we did nothing wrong. The number plate WAS a coincidence. When it was pointed out to us, we changed it. And these war veterans we upset. Mostly they were in their 20s. Do the maths.”
And these war veterans we upset. Mostly they were in their 20s. Do the maths.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) October 4, 2014
All members of the Top Gear crew have now left Argentina. The mayor of Rio Grande, the regional capital, reportedly banned the vehicles from the city and declared the crew “personas non gratas” following demands from military veterans’ groups.
Cesar Gonzalez, head of the Falklands’ veteran centre in Rio Grande, called the plate an “outright provocation”, adding: “It had the number 982 – an allusion to the war [1982] and the letters FLK for the Falklands. It was a mockery to us all.”
Clarkson’s insistence that the number plate was an “unbelievable coincidence” was echoed by Andy Wilman, the programme’s executive producer. “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,” he said.
A BBC spokesman said: “As the executive producer has made clear, the number plate issue is a very unfortunate coincidence.”
The team from the BBC2 show were in South America filming a special on a remote highway that passes through Chile and Argentina.
Clarkson had described the attack as “the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been involved in”, adding: “There were hundreds of them. They were hurling rocks and bricks at our cars.”
A group of Argentinian war veterans protested outside the crew’s hotel in Ushuaia and police were called after they invaded the lobby.
One local politician said the crew had been escorted by police to the airport, reportedly flying out of the area three days earlier than planned.
Local press reported that a fixer who had been hired to assist the crew was injured.
The Porsche, along with a Lotus Esprit and a Ford Mustang, were abandoned by the side of a road. “We’re leaving them here; we don’t want any more problems. Set fire to them if you like,” said a Top Gear crew member, according to local media.
One edition of the BBC2 programme shot in Burma and broadcast earlier this year was found to be in breach of Ofcom’s broadcasting code for using a racially offensive term, following a viewer complaint.
The ruling came three months after Clarkson was forced to apologise over footage in which he appeared to use another racist term as part of an old nursery rhyme during filming.
Top Gear has previously been criticised for unflattering depictions of Albanians, Romanians, Germans and Mexicans.
