Top gear presenter James May backs suspended Jeremy Clarkson

James May has defended his Top Gear co-star Jeremy Clarkson over the “dust-up” with a producer that saw him suspended from the show.

More than 300,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the 54-year-old’s reinstatement after he was suspended following what the BBC said was “a fracas” with one of the motoring show’s producers.

May confirmed the row was sparked by catering arrangements for the show, but told BBC News he was not there when it happened.

He said: “I think he’s been involved in a bit of a dust-up and I don’t think it’s that serious.”

Perry McCarthy, who was the show’s anonymous driver Stig for several years, said there had been a “complete over-reaction” by people “looking to be offended”.

The BBC is investigating the allegations against Clarkson, but he could walk away from the show when his contract runs out at the end of the month.

All three of the show’s hosts were understood to be days away from signing new contracts that would have kept them at the wheel of the show for another three years when Clarkson was suspended.

The BBC owns the rights to the Top Gear brand, which is valued at £50 million, and includes the show, DVD rights and live shows, raising the prospect of Top Gear continuing on the BBC while Clarkson takes a similar show to one of its rivals.

Two episodes of this series have been postponed and the future of the third and final episode is unclear.

The producer involved in the alleged bust-up, said to have taken place after filming in Newcastle, was named by the Daily Mirror as Oisin Tymon, 36.

Clarkson’s first public response to his suspension was a tweet issuing a mock apology to Ed Miliband, whose wife Justine gave an interview to the BBC which was broadcast yesterday.

He said: “Sorry Ed. It seems I knocked your ‘I’m a human’ piece down the news agenda.”

Clarkson retweeted a message from a Top Gear viewer which read: “How can BBC not show the remaining episodes of Top Gear, can’t this be resolved without making the fans suffer?”

A BBC spokeswoman said: “Following a fracas with a BBC producer, Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation.

“No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday. The BBC will be making no further comment at this time.”

The presenter’s daughter Em Clarkson tweeted: “Oh God, BBC please take him back… He’s started cooking…”

Sunday’s episode was set to feature Clarkson with co-hosts Richard Hammond and May getting to grips with classic cars such as a Fiat 124 Spider, an MGB GT and a Peugeot 304 cabriolet.

They were set to take to the road and end up at a classic track day, while Gary Lineker was due to be the “star in a reasonably priced car”.

This is the latest in a long line of controversies which has seen the presenter offend foreign diplomats, viewers, MPs and his own bosses at the BBC.

Clarkson was put on what was called his final warning last year following a racism row after claims he used the N-word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe during filming of the BBC2 programme.

In recent years Clarkson has been cleared of breaching the broadcasting code by watchdog Ofcom after comparing a Japanese car to people with growths on their faces, and he faced a storm of protest from mental health charities after branding people who throw themselves under trains as “selfish”.

He was also forced to apologise for telling BBC1’s The One Show that striking workers should be shot, but it is the claims of racism that have really damaged his standing with the corporation.

According to Mr Tymon’s LinkedIn profile, he began working on Top Gear as an associate producer in March 2008 before being promoted to producer in March 2012.

Before joining the show he spent just over a year as a researcher and associate producer on daily magazine programme The One Show.

He has a recommendation from an employer on his LinkedIn page which describes him as “personable, professional and efficient”.

Top Gear is one of the BBC’s biggest money spinners, pulling in millions of pounds from a devoted international audience.

Its latest series was given a global launch with a simultaneous broadcast in more than 50 countries.

Its success – and Clarkson’s vital part in it – saw BBC TV boss Danny Cohen compare him to a top-flight footballer, telling reporters last year that “no one is bigger than the club”.

Last year, the show was censured by communications regulator Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules after Clarkson used a “racial” term during the programme’s Burma special, which aired in March 2014.

The year ended with the show’s crew forced to flee Argentina after trouble erupted when it emerged they were using a Porsche with the registration number H982 FKL, which some people suggested could refer to the Falklands conflict of 1982.

But each episode of the two-part Christmas special attracted more than seven million viewers, with a further three million for each episode on iPlayer.

The presenters and crew are believed to have been staying at Simonstone Hall Hotel in Hawes, North Yorkshire, at the time of the latest incident.

A spokesman for the 15th century hotel confirmed that Top Gear staff stayed in the 18-bedroom property from March 3 to 5.

He added that Clarkson, Hammond and May only stayed for one night, on March 4.

However, the spokesman would not confirm whether the alleged fracas took place there.

Its website describes the hotel as the “ultimate tranquil retreat” and says that its atmosphere “exudes comfort and finery in equal measures”.