Clarkson contract blocks ITV show

The brakes have been put on plans for Jeremy Clarkson to take a new motoring show to ITV after it was revealed his old BBC contract stops him making a rival car show on another UK channel.

A clause in his deal with the corporation — which came to an end after an internal inquiry found that he had assaulted Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon — prevents Clarkson and his co-hosts, James May and Richard Hammond, from working on a similar show for two years.

They are free to make a different kind of show for ITV, but are thought more likely to go to an online broadcaster such as Amazon or Netflix, which are not covered by the clause.