Jeremy Clarkson sparks complaints after spoof advert jokes about Second World War on Top Gear - watch it here

Loudmouth Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has got himself in trouble again with a spoof car advert that jokes about Germany’s invasion of Poland.

Angry viewers complained to the BBC, media watchdog Ofcom and on online message boards after it was shown on Sunday night’s Top Gear.

The ad, for the Volkswagen Scirocco TDI, has a clip of people in Warsaw panicking and rushing to board trains and buses in a bid to escape the city.

Making a joke about the German-made car’s fuel economy, it ends with the tag line: “Volkswagen Scirocco TDI. Berlin to Warsaw in one tank” – a reference to Adolf Hitler’s decision to invade Poland which triggered the Second World War.

The advert has been posted on YouTube and prompted a heated debate about the joke.

Some dubbed Clarkson xenophobic and accused him of supporting the far right while others praised him for ‘speaking his mind’.

One said: “I just love how people find any comments made by Jeremy insulting or rude. After countless years of Top Gear running you should all know by now he speaks his mind. If you are easily offended then don't bloody watch the show.”

Another: “Many of us just find Clarkson an ignorant, rich, slob...with a sense of humour as sharp as a turd after a vindaloo...he's the champion of England's disaffected 'little men' who regard shouting at foreigners in English as the best way of communicating because they're too thick to learn another language.”


Clarkson is well known for his forthright and outspoken views and it is not the first time he has made a dig at the Germans.

In 2005 he gave a Nazi salute on Top Gear while discussing a the German-made Mini.

After saying that the car’s indicators should go up and down, demonstrating with the salute, he went on to say that the vehidoncle might have a GPS system 'that only goes to Poland'.

A spokesman for the BBC2 show said it had only received a handful of complaints, although Ofcom figures are understood to be higher


Clarkson also made headlines last month after telling a live Top Gear audience off-air that Gor-Brown was a ****. He was given a dressing down by BBC bosses over the comment, but the presenter insisted that because filming had not started he had no reason to retract the statement.

Earlier in the year Clarkson was forced to apologise after calling the Prime Minister a 'one-eyed Scottish idiot'.

Last year, more than 500 people complained after the presenter made a remark suggesting that lorry drivers murder prostitutes.

The episode on Sunday was the last in the present series. Clarkson had caused speculation that the show was being axed when he said during the programme: 'This feels like an ending.'

But the BBC has confirmed that it will return in November.

Clarkson said he would keep making the show as long as people watch, saying: “I couldn't think of anything I'd want to do more.

“I can assure everyone I'll be back in November doing Top Gear. We're filming the next series and already have several things in the can.”