Top Gear Cleared Over Argentina Number Plates

Top Gear has been cleared of deliberately looking for trouble in Argentina with a number plate that some viewers believed was trying to provoke.

The plate - H982 FKL - was used on a Porsche that Jeremy Clarkson and crew took to South America to record their Patagonia special.

It caused a diplomatic incident when local Argentines became furious after they were alerted to the registration and threw rocks at the car.

The crew, including presenters Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, were clearly shaken up and had to flee the country to avoid further trouble.

Viewers suggested to the BBC Trust that the number plate was not randomly selected and had been deliberately chosen to annoy the Argentines.

Some felt the fact that the Patagonia special was aired over the Christmas period was particularly offensive.

One person even suggested the BBC was covering up what had happened and asked to be shown proof of purchase of the car with the registration plate so that the "amazing coincidence" would be disproved.

However, the BBC Trust disagreed.

Its complaints and appeals board said there was no evidence "which demonstrated that the use of the number plate was a deliberate reference to the Falklands War".

It is the second time the BBC has defended the makers of the programme - the BBC Executive originally rejected a complaint and it was then sent to the Trust on appeal.

The future of the massively-successful show is up in the air after Jeremy Clarkson's dismissal over a "fracas" with a programme producer.