Clarkson sparks outcry over 'put kids in baggage' call

Jeremy Clarkson. Photo / NZPA

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson is at the centre of another media storm after suggesting babies should be "put in the baggage hold" while travelling on planes.

The outspoken British personality used Twitter to vent his frustration at children on flights after a trip to Scotland earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported.

He said: "When will British Airways realise that babies belong in the hold?"

Internet users were quick to scorn his opinion.

However, the sentiment also attracted support from other irked flyers and was retweeted more than 3000 times.

Clarkson also defended the claim, saying his own children "didn't fly till they were old enough to behave".

The gaffe is the latest in a long history of controversial opinions. He recently joked about ex-BBC football commentator Stuart Hall's confession to indecently assaulting young girls. He also described former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is blind in one eye, as a "one-eyed Scottish idiot".

When co-host Richard Hammond called Mexicans "feckless" and "lazy" in 2011, Clarkson joked that Mexico wouldn't complain about the comment as the country's UK ambassador would be asleep in front of the TV.

He also once suggested the United Nations should "start to think seriously about abolishing other languages. What's the point of Welsh, for example? All it does is provide a silly maypole around which a bunch of hotheads can get all nationalistic."