- .BBC team forced to leave country three days early
- .They were 'pelted with stones' by angry Falklands War veterans
- .The ex-soldiers then marched on their hotel and demanded they leave
- .They were reportedly forced to abandon their vehicles at a police road block
- .Argentinians now claim all the presenters' cars had offensive number plates
- .Richard Hammond's plate had digits 269 while James May's contained 646
- .Argentinian councillor claims these are close to the numbers of British and Argentinian casualties
Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear co-presenters are seen fleeing in panic as their cars are pelted with stones by an angry mob of Falklands War veterans incensed by their 'offensive' number plate.
Video footage shows Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond speeding away under police escort after coming under attack during filming for the BBC show. Pictures of the cars with smashed windows were later released by the police.
The BBC presenters were forced to abandon their vehicles at a police checkpoint and head to Chile three days ahead of schedule after being told to leave 'or face the consequences'.
Aftermath: A Lotus car being used by Top Gear presenter James May is pictured with smashed windows after being pelted with stones by angry Falklands War veterans
Anger: Jeremy Clarkson's damaged Porsche bearing the number plate H982 FKL, which locals understood to be a reference to the 1982 conflict
The Ford Mustang car used by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond. The BBC production team was forced to flee Argentina to Chile under police escort following the attack
Clarkson sparked outrage across the South American country after being spotted driving a Porsche with the number plate H982 FKL which locals claim is a reference to the 1982 conflict.
Clarkson's Porsche, as well as a Lotus being driven by James May and a Ford Mustang being driven by Richard Hammond, were abandoned by the side of the road after they came under attack from locals near the town of Tolhuin.
The presenters, as well as members of their film crew were pelted with stones. One of the team - a Argentinian technician - was reportedly injured after being hit in the face.
One member of the crew reportedly told officers at the first checkpoint they reached: 'We're leaving the cars, we don't want more problems.
'Burn them if you want but we're getting out of here', according to the Daily Telelgraph.
Local councillor Juan Manuel Romano said the digits 269 on the number plate of the Ford Mustang were close to the 255 Britons killed during the 1982 war - and the numbers 646 on the Lotus could be taken as a reference to the 649 Argentinian casualties.
Top Gear producers insisted the plate had not been chosen deliberately and was a pure coincidence.
Hounded out: Jeremy Clarkson and his fellow Top Gear presenters have been forced to leave Argentina early after inciting outrage among local Falklands War veterans by driving a Porsche with the number plate H982 FKL
A regional government minister had to sit in on the reunion to keep the peace.
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 yesterday 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.'
Mariano Plecity, the regional government minister who sat in on the meeting as mediator, announced 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 gloated: '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, Hammond and May are pictured with glasses of wine in a tweet posted by an Argentinian motoring blog
Clarkson's Porsche is pictured abandoned with the offending number plate removed. The team were forced to leave Argentina three days early
The presenters, as well as members of their film crew were pelted with stones. One of the team - a Argentinian technician - was reportedly injured after being hit in the face
The exact whereabouts of Jeremy Clarkson and his co-producers was unclear last night, although it is thought they had checked into a hotel in the Chilean city Punta Arenas.
The cars they had been using to film a Top Gear special due to screen next March reportedly remained in a shed in a ski resort near Ushuaia after being stopped by war veterans who set up a roadblock to stop them.
The protestors also interrupted the final days' filming after spotting the controversial number plates on the car despite officials' insistence a day earlier that they would be only be used when the vehicles were being driven on the road to avoid fines.
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 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.'
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.
Leading daily Clarin, predicting Clarkson was unlikely to come out unscathed, said: 'This is highly sensitive for Argentinians and he could have problems.'
Sent packing: Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman is pictured packing a car to leave Ushaia, Argentina after the presenters and production team were pelted with stones by angry locals
Controversy: Clarkson (pictured earlier this year making a video apology for using the N-word while singing a racist rhyme for Top Gear) has provoked a backlash in the Argentinian media for using the number plate
Bloodthirsty locals took to Twitter to gloat over the presenter's out-of-character surrender.
One said: 'It looks like Jeremy Clarkson got a taste of his own medicine.'
Antoher labelled him a British idiot, claiming: 'He wanted to offend our country with our Malvinas Islands.'
There was no immediate Twitter response from the 54-year-old presenter this morning.
Earlier this month he responded on the site with a foul-mouthed diatribe to reports he had been warned by BBC bosses not to cause a diplomatic row ahead of his Argentina trip.
Clarkson has made a habit of insulting his foreign hosts during Top Gear's jaunts abroad.
In 2012 the Indian High Commission in London formally complained to the BBC about an India special in which Clarkson travelled round the country in a Jaguar with a toilet fixed to the boot.
Under fire: Clarkson has been filming his 1,350-mile trek at the head of a convoy of vehicles including a Lotus and Ford Mustang driven by fellow Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond (left) and James May (right)
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.
He was forced to apologise in May after appearing to mumble the N-word as he sang a racist rhyme for Top Gear.
TV chiefs in London were said at the time to have summoned him to a meeting and given him a final warning.
Argentinian president Cristina Kirchner has made the Falklands a government priority and attacked Britain repeatedly over the islands since taking over the reigns of power following the death of her husband Nestor.
She pledged an 'eternal fight' for the Falklands in one rabble-rousing speech although she insisted it would be one based on diplomatic pressure not violence.
She begged Pope Francis to intervene in the row with Britain over sovereignty of the islands in the first of their four meetings in March last year.
At the start of the year she handpicked 'yes' man Daniel Filmus to become Argentina's first new Falklands secretary.
He labelled the UK as a 'colonial power' at his swearing-in ceremony.
The Falklands issue is particularly sensitive in southern Argentina where Top Gear was being filmed.
Ushuaia has blocked several British-flagged cruise ships from docking under a controversial local law named after an Argentinian cowboy who led a bloody 19th century uprising against the British.
Andy Wilman, Top Gear's executive producer, said of Clarkson's 'offensive' number plate yesterday/on Thursday: 'Top Gear production purchased three cars for a forthcoming programme.
'To suggest that this car was either chosen for its number plate, or than an alternative number plate was substituted for the original one, is completely untrue.'
No comments:
Post a Comment