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Argentine war veterans to file legal complaint against Jeremy Clarkson

The Top Gear presenter fled the country after causing controversy over allegedly offensive registration plates

Ella Alexander
Friday 10 October 2014 13:16 BST
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Jeremy Clarkson has rejected criticisms of his language, according to BBC director of television Danny Cohen
Jeremy Clarkson has rejected criticisms of his language, according to BBC director of television Danny Cohen (Getty Images)

Falklands war veterans are filing an official complaint over Jeremy Clarkson's controversial registration plates.

The grievance will call for a court to open a criminal investigation for alleged falsification of number plates, after the Top Gear presenter drove a Porsche through the country with the license plate 'H982 FKL' – an apparent reference to the Falkland’s War in 1982.

War veteran Osvaldo Hillar, from Ushuaia, Argentina, said: "We will be filing a formal complaint and leaving it in the hands of the judicial system."

The results of the filing are expected to be announced next week.

Police in Argentina also discovered a pair of plates spelling 'BE11 END' inside the Porsche, which was abandoned near the Chilean border by the Top Gear team as they fled the country in fear of being stoned to death.

A spokesperson for the BBC show confirmed that the registration plates, one white and one yellow, were indeed inside the car, although neither has been used in filming.

According to a "local official, quoted by The Mirror, the Argentines were also riled by the second set, and perceive it as another pre-planned jibe.

"We know bellend doesn’t mean the end of the bell and is a word used instead to describe the head of the penis which is often employed as an insult in England," a local official told The Mirror.

"We regard it as another insult to the people of Argentina.

"We’re sure the Top Gear team were planning another provocation with the number plate in the same way they provoked us with the one referencing the Falklands War."

Damon Albarn apologised for Clarkson’s latest controversy while on stage at a Buenos Aires gig earlier this week.

"I want to really apologise for the behaviour of a guy called Jeremy Clarkson who does a programme called Top Gear," Albarn said, before raising his middle finger and adding, "He’s a f***ing a***hole."

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