TOP Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been AXED from the show – and could face a police probe, it was sensationally revealed today.
The telly star will not have his contract renewed by bosses after the BBC found that he punched producer Oisin Tymon in a furious hotel row.
Mr Tymon was left with a bleeding lip and took himself to A&E after the attack, an official BBC report revealed.
Sacked motormouth Clarkson today refused to comment on the prospect of being arrested but hit out at Top Gear fans who have hounded the producer.
He said that Mr Tymon was blameless.
He added: “All I would like to say is … I wish people would leave Ois alone because none of this was his fault.”
North Yorkshire Police has asked the BBC for its dossier on the incident and said action will be taken “where necessary”.
Today the force said it has spoken to potential witnesses at the hotel.
A spokesman said: “We have a duty to investigate where we believe an offence might have been committed, and that is what we have been doing with this case.
“We have already spoken to some people who were in the hotel at the time, but there are still others we need to speak to, who could help us to determine exactly what happened.”
Officers have also contacted Mr Tymon’s lawyers to see if he wants to press charges.
Speaking soon after the BBC’s ruling was made public, co-star James May branded it a “tragedy” and suggested he and Richard Hammond may also leave the show.
He said: “Top Gear will continue in some way. It existed before us, it has been reformatted several times.
“I don’t want to talk about [my own future] too much but I think we are very much the three of us a package.
“Much as I think he’s a k*** I quite like working with Jeremy.”
Today he suggested he may quit telly and become a teacher instead.
He said: “I might want to do something completely different with my life. I’m quite old now – something outside of cars. I always wanted to be a teacher.”
Richard Hammond said he was “gutted at such a sad end to an era”.
He wrote: “We’re all three of us idiots in our different ways but it’s been a incredible ride together.”
Prime Minister David Cameron, a personal friend of Clarkson, responded to the news by saying: “If you do something wrong at work there can be consequences”.
“Aggressive and abusive behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace”.
The incident on March 4 followed a day of filming for the hit BBC show – and resulted in Clarkson being suspended six days later.
The Beeb probe into the clash at a luxury hotel in North Yorkshire found that Clarkson subjected the producer to an “unprovoked physical and verbal attack”.
BBC boss Tony Hall said the dramatic move to give Clarkson the boot had been taken “with great regret”.
In a statement this afternoon, he said: “It is not a decision I have taken lightly.
“I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon.”
Clarkson has yet to comment but this afternoon updated his Twitter profile to read: “I used to be a presenter on the BBC2 motoring show, Top Gear.”
Ken MacQuarrie, who led the probe into the Top Gear star, found that Clarkson had verbally abused Mr Tymon on several occasions.
He said: “The abuse was at such volume as to be heard in the dining room, and the shouting was audible in a hotel bedroom.”
The Beeb’s Director General Tony Hall went on to hail Clarkson as a “huge talent”.
He also said that renewing Top Gear for next year would be a “big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise”.
Producer Oisin Tymon described the “fracas” as a “very regrettable incident”.
He said: “I’ve worked on Top Gear for almost a decade, a programme I love.
“Over that time Jeremy and I had a positive and successful working relationship, making some landmark projects together.
“He is a unique talent and I am well aware that many will be sorry his involvement in the show should end in this way.”
Fans of the show have taken to Twitter to vent their anger with many blaming Tymon for Clarkson’s dismissal.
One wrote: “We would never of won two #WorldWars with guys like #OisinTymon fighting for queen and country! #Fact!”
Another said: “Oisin Tymon is the one who should’ve been fired. If @jeremyclarkson wants a steak dinner, you get him a steak dinner! #TopGear.”
Paul Staines, who started a petition calling for Jeremy Clarkson not be given the boot from the BBC show, said: “This is a sad day for Top Gear fans, BBC licence fee payers and the 1m people who signed the petition to reinstate Jeremy.”
James May’s agent later issued a statement saying: “James was disappointed to hear that the BBC will not be renewing Jeremy’s contract, however understands that it will have been a difficult deliberation all round and respects the decision.
“As to the future of Top Gear, it existed before its current format and will no doubt continue to do so. James’ involvement in that future requires much thought, deliberation and conversation between many people, and at this moment further speculation on that is not useful.”
Clarkson is rumoured to have attracted the attention of rival broadcasters looking to produce their own version of the hit show.
One of them, Channel 4, confirmed they are not currently planning to hire Clarkson.
A spokesman said: “We have no plans to work with Jeremy Clarkson.”
Meanwhile, web pranksters made a video suggesting that Clarkson was set to join One Direction, after band member Zayn quit just hours after Jezza was axed from the Beeb.