Clarkson condemned for gay reference

Jeremy Clarkson has been condemned by the BBC for derogatory references to homosexuality.

The BBC ruled that the comments, made on an episode of Top Gear in July, should never have been broadcast.

Four complaints have been upheld after Clarkson agreed with an audience member that a car was "a bit gay". The controversial presenter also referred to it as "very ginger beer", taken to be rhyming slang for the term 'queer'.

The Top Gear team have reportedly been reminded to avoid using such comments about sexual orientation.

The BBC conceded: "As Jeremy Clarkson supplemented the term 'gay' with a phrase which is rhyming slang for 'queer', there was no doubt that it was being used in the sense of 'homosexual', and was capable of causing offence."