STOP GEAR

Series is parked as Freddie quits after car smash

- NICOLA METHVEN

THE BBC has abandoned the new series of Top Gear and host Freddie Flintoff has quit three months after he was badly injured in a crash on the show’s racetrack. 

Top Gear’s future now hangs in the balance and a decision on whether to axe it will be made later this year.

The 34th series was half-way through filming when Freddie got into problems in icy conditions in December.

The 45-year-old and a production crew member were in a three-wheeled, open-top Morgan Super 3 when it rolled on the show’s test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey.

Freddie, who has the names of his four children and wife Rachael tattooed on his shoulder, is said to have suffered serious facial injuries and broken ribs and been traumatised by the accident.

He has now told the BBC he will not return to the show, which is the eighth he has fronted with Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris.