Jeremy Clarkson 'made to wait' by police for five days over decision on Top Gear 'fracas'

North Yorkshire Police accused of making BBC presenter sweat

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson waiting in the stands before the Arsenal vs Chelsea football match at the Emirates Stadium (Reuters)

Police have been accused of making Jeremy Clarkson sweat for five days before informing him that they had concluded their investigation into his “fracas” with a Top Gear producer.

North Yorkshire Police’s decision “not to pursue the matter further” was announcement in a statement released early on Tuesday 7 April.

Clarkson was dismissed by the BBC as presenter of flagship motoring programme after punching producer Oisin Tymon at a luxury hotel near the North Yorkshire Dales.

Officers said the force had “completed its routine enquiries following the incident at Hawes”… adding that “last week, the person at the centre of the incident, Mr Tymon, said that he did not wish the police to take action on his behalf”.

But according to a Freedom of Information request reportedly made by the MailOnline, police had actually closed the investigation into the incident on Thursday 2 April – five days before the decision was announced.

The incident, described by the BBC as a “fracas”, took place on 4 March, meaning it was over a month before Clarkson was told he would not be facing police action. Enquiries began on 18 March, the MailOnline reported, while Mr Tymon told police he did not want to press for charges on 27 March.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police was not immediately able to provide comment on the accusations it withheld information.

Meanwhile, the BBC could face further embarrassment over the actions of Clarkson on Top Gear after Ofcom announced an investigation into whether the presenter’s use of the word “pikey” was racist.

An episode of the programme broadcast in February last year showed Clarkson erecting a sign bearing the words “Pikey’s Peak”, part of a long-running in-joke about co-presenter Richard Hammond.

In March, the BBC Trust’s standards committee ruled that there had been “no intended racist reference” in the use of the term, but Ofcom took action after it received a complaint from the Traveller Movement charity. It is expected to take around two months to reach a decision.