Top Gear: 350,000 sign petition supporting Jeremy Clarkson – WBNews

An online petition calling for the BBC to “reinstate” Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been signed by more than 350,000 people. Clarkson, 54, was suspended after a “fracas” with one of the show’s producers, Oisin Tymon. Sunday’s episode of Top Gear will not be shown, and it is understood the two final episodes in the series will also be dropped. The petition was started on Tuesday by political blogger Guido Fawkes. It reached the 250,000 mark by mid-morning on Wednesday. Media captionJames May said he did not think the situation was that seriousAsked about the Clarkson incident, co-presenter James May told BBC News: “I think he’s been involved in a bit of a dust-up and I don’t think it’s that serious.” He said he had not been present. Earlier on Wednesday, Clarkson’s retweeted a message to his 4.5m Twitter followers from a Top Gear viewer which read: “How can BBC not show the remaining episodes of Top Gear, can’t this be resolved without making the fans suffer?” He had exchanged suggestions on Twitter with Top Gear co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May about films that could be aired in place of the Sunday’s planned episode. BBC News special correspondent Lucy Manning said sources had confirmed reports Clarkson was suspended for “allegedly hitting a producer”. “The incident is believed to have happened last week, but was reported to the BBC on Monday and dealt with on Tuesday,” she said. Image copyright Ellis O’Brien/BBC Worldwide Limi Image caption Top Gear is…more detail