Clarkson: Falklands Row Mob Attack 'Terrifying'

Jeremy Clarkson has told how he and his Top Gear crew were attacked by an angry crowd armed with rocks and pickaxe handles - saying it was "the most terrifying thing I've ever been involved in".

The 54-year-old was in Argentina filming a special for his TV show when his team had to abandon their cars on the roadside as they were pelted with stones.

The violence was sparked by Clarkson driving a Porsche with the registration plate H982 FKL, which some interpreted as a dig over the Falklands conflict of 1982.

A mob rounded on Clarkson and fellow presenters Richard Hammond and James May near the southern city of Ushuaia and tried to attack them with pickaxe handles while yelling "burn their cars".

Clarkson told The Sun: "I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan, but this was the most terrifying thing I've ever been involved in.

"There were hundreds of them. They were hurling rocks and bricks at our cars. This is not just some kind of jolly Top Gear jape - this was deadly serious."

BBC bosses said the number plate was a coincidence and was not chosen deliberately, but it led to protests in Argentina, including a demonstration by war veterans outside the team's hotel.

Clarkson said someone could have been killed during the attack after returning to the UK on Saturday morning.

In a series of Tweets, he said: "All TG crew now safely out of Argentina. I just got back to UK.

"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.

"They threw us out for the political capital. Thousands chased crew to border. Someone could have been killed.

"This was not a jolly jape that went awry. For once, we did nothing wrong."

Top Gear's executive producer 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."