Top Gear co-host calls Jeremy Clarkson 'a knob'

Top Gear co-host James May has delivered a backhanded defence of his colleague Jeremy Clarkson, saying Clarkson is "a knob but I quite like him".

Clarkson was suspended by the BBC on Wednesday after it emerged he had been involved in a "fracas" with a Top Gear producer last week.

Clarkson allegedly "aimed a punch" at the man after finding there was no food on the set of the popular BBC motor show.

When asked if he supported Clarkson May responded "in many ways no".

"I've said many times before the man is a knob but I quite like him," May said at his west London home.

When asked if he knew anymore about Clarkson's alleged punch, May replied, "Not very much, I was blind drunk."

Clarkson is yet to make an official statement about the allegations.

The next Top Gear episode will not air on Sunday as planned, with the BBC unwilling to say when – or if – the show will return.

"I'm off to the Job Centre," Clarkson said, when questioned by journalists while leaving his London home on Wednesday.

An online petition to reinstate Clarkson has attracted over 420,000 signatures.

He was reportedly given a "final warning" by the BBC in May last year after repeatedly coming under fire for making a string of controversial comments and racially-charged quips since Top Gear debuted in 2002.

Some of Clarkson's gaffes include using the 'n-word' while filming a segment on the show and referring to Mexican people as "lazy, feckless and flatulent".