BBC set to bring back Clarkson?

Clarkson claimed that he had a meeting with a senior BBC executive last week. Photo / Getty Images

The BBC has refuted Jeremy Clarkson's claim that he was asked to return as the host of Top Gear months after he was axed.

Clarkson said he turned the offer down because someone at the corporation had compared him to Jimmy Savile.

However, the BBC quickly denied the claim, stating: "We haven't offered another Top Gear contract."

In an unusual move, the corporation published a news story to directly address the allegation made by Clarkson in a newspaper interview.

A spokesman said: "The BBC had placed on record its thanks to Jeremy for his broadcasting on the programme and wish him well for the future."

Clarkson claimed that he had a meeting with a senior BBC executive last week.

The 55-year-old former presenter said he had been asked to return to the motoring show just days before Chris Evans was offered the job but declined the offer because "too much has gone on".

Clarkson, who was sacked for punching a Top Gear producer in March, told the Sun that returning to the role "was never an option".

He said: "I had a meeting with a BBC executive last week and they asked if I'd come back to Top Gear.

"But it was never an option, even with the one million people signing the Bring Back Clarkson petition - for which I was extremely humbled."

He added "Too much has gone on. After I'd been compared to Jimmy Savile by someone from the BBC and it was splashed all over a Sunday newspaper, how could I go back?

"The spotlight would have been on me and the show would end up being neutered.

"It would be difficult to do anything without interference. It would have been impossible to make the show I'd want to make.

"I think they knew this so that's why they gave the job to Chris so soon after I met them."

The dispute comes as Evans, Radio 2 breakfast DJ and TFI Friday host, launches a high profile search for a new Top Gear team.

He willl present a revamped version of the show which is due to launch next March.

Evans, a known car enthusiast and friend of Clarkson, signed a three-year deal to head up the BBC Two show, calling it his "favourite programme of all time".

Richard Hammond and James May have confirmed they will not be returning to the show despite the BBC's best efforts to keep them. But they, and Clarkson, have wished Evans well.