London, England - Jeremy Clarkson is at the centre of renewed controversy after saying foreign taxi drivers in London have 'vehicles smelling of sick'.
The Top Gear host - whose future at the BBC is in doubt amid claims that he punched a producer - made the controversial comments in the March edition of Top Gear magazine.
He wrote: “In London, there are two types of cab driver.
“You have a chap who has just arrived from a country you've never heard of, whose car smells faintly of lavender oil and sick, who doesn't know where he's going and can't get there anyway because he never puts more than £2 worth of fuel in the tank of his car.
“Then you have someone in a suit in a smart black Mercedes S-Class who does know where he's going and is very polite but he charges around £7500 (R93 000) a mile.”
He also turned on drivers in the North, saying northern roads were overrun with immigrants "who have never experienced tarmac before".
PILING ON THE PRESSURE
Although it was unclear on Monday night when Clarkson, 54, wrote the article, it was almost certainly before the dust-up in North Yorkshire, and sources close to the presenter believe his enemies immediately latched on to the magazine remarks to pile more pressure on the beleaguered star.
Labour MP Helen Goodman had earlier said: "These are not the reactions of someone on a peace mission. He's trying to maximise the conflict. As an MP for a northern constituency, I can tell you he's talking complete nonsense."
Clarkson's magazine comments were an embarrassing distraction for the presenter on the day he faced an interrogation over his dust-up with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon by BBC chiefs, who are said to be 'desperate' to get rid of him.
Ken MacQuarrie, head of BBC Scotland, is leading an inquiry into the fracas and is expected to deliver a verdict within days.
The inflammatory comments follow a string of rows over racism. Last year Clarkson apologised after he was filmed using the N-word in the poem 'Eeny, meeny, miney, moe'.
Shortly afterwards, he used the racist term "slope" in a programme about Burma.
However, Clarkson has the backing of UK prime minister David Cameron, as well as Top Gear's fans. More than 935 000 have signed an online petition to reinstate him on the show. He also received support from the stuntman who played 'The Stig'. Perry McCarthy said Top Gear would lose its 'fire' without Clarkson.
Daily Mail