Cause of Hammond crash is revealed

A nail in the tyre of Richard Hammond's vehicle has been revealed as the most likely cause of the crash which almost killed the presenter last year.

An official BBC report has now revealed that it is a "distinct possibility" that the accident could have been prevented if the tyres had been checked in between earlier practice runs.

Hammond was filming a feature for TV show Top Gear, travelling at speeds of nearly 300mph when the front offside tyre disintegrated and led to his suffering a serious brain injury.

The 88-page report claimed: "The indirect cause was the inability to spot the damage to the tyre, possibly due to either the lack of an adequate checking procedure or inadequate implementation of the procedure by PLE as the 'experts' with sole responsibility for the safety of the car; and to a much lesser extent Top Gear not having an assurance system to ensure that the safety checks were being performed on the day."