‘Top Gear’s’ Cenotaph stunt causes outrage

The BBC was accused of insulting Britain’s war dead on Sunday after staging a Top Gear motoring stunt yards from London’s Cenotaph.

Matt LeBlanc, 48, the former Friends actor, and his driver pulled wheel-spins in a high-powered Ford Mustang near the 95-year-old memorial in scenes branded “a disgrace” by war veterans and MPs.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “It is gravely disrespectful.”

The BBC is preparing for a ratings war with the sacked Jeremy Clarkson, who has started filming with Amazon Prime, a streaming website. Andrew Bridgen, a Tory MP and member of the British Royal Legion, called for an inquiry into the decision to choose the war memorial as the backdrop for the “boy-racer” stunt.

Col Kemp, who retired from the Armed Forces in 2006, added: “It beggars belief that they were ever allowed to film here. This is a sacred tribute to millions of people who have done far more for their country than Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc ever will.

“The BBC certainly should not have done this in the first place and I would urge them to make sure this does not appear in the final programme.”

Bridgen said the corporation ought to bear in mind the 16-month jail term given to Charlie Gilmour — son of David Gilmour of Pink Floyd — for swinging from the Cenotaph. He added: “Jeremy Clarkson was certainly no saint but I don’t believe he would have ever performed a stunt in such bad taste.”