TOP Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson phoned the BBC’s director of television in an attempt to draw a line under the “fracas” that led to his suspension, a friend has said.

But television critic A A Gill claimed BBC boss Danny Cohen decided to initiate an internal probe anyway.

The row between Mr Clarkson, who lives near Chipping Norton, and producer Oisin Tymon on March 4 was alleged to have erupted when no hot food was laid on at a North Yorkshire hotel after a day of filming.

In an article for The Sunday Times, Mr Gill branded a BBC investigation into the incident “preposterous” and said Mr Tymon had made no official complaint.

He wrote: “Cohen had a choice: to do the right thing or the bureaucratic thing, but at the BBC no good intention goes unquestioned.


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“A BBC producer called me to say that if incidents like this on film and TV locations around the world were reported in the press, there would be no room for any other news.

“People work long hours with a great deal of stress, and small things – almost invariably food – are tetchy tripwires.

“Whatever happened, in mitigation to Jeremy, nobody works harder or under more stress than he.”

Meanwhile, in a column for The Sun, Mr Clarkson hinted he may decide to leave the BBC when his contract expires at the end of this month.

The corporation has pulled the last three episodes of the current series of Top Gear and is due to hold a disciplinary hearing over the incident in the coming weeks.

It will be chaired by Ken MacQuarrie, the BBC executive who handled the inquiry into a Newsnight investigation that falsely accused a Conservative peer of child abuse.