Jeremy Clarkson suspended: Top Gear host attacked Tesco staff after Clubcard refused

Jeremy Clarkson was suspended from Top Gear after allegedly hitting a Tesco staff member named as Simon Williams.

It is claimed the host, 54, saw red with Williams, 23, after his clubcard was refused at a store in Newcastle after it had expired.

A source said: “Jeremy saw red over a card issue. He just snapped.”

The BBC initially confirmed the Top Gear host had been suspended following a "fracas" with a supermarket shelf stacker.

The controversial host was suspended by the BBC after a “fracas”, in which it is alleged that he saw red and hit a member of Tesco's staff after he was informed his clubcard had expired, which he was not informed about, and he would have to apply for a new one, and any existing points on the original card would not be transferred over.

It is understood that Simon Williams, 23 – who has worked at the store for three years – was the man involved in the alleged bust-up. It is said to have taken place after filming in Newcastle with co-hosts James May, 52, and Richard Hammond, 45 when Clarkson decided to go shopping.

One source claimed: “It was all over the clubcard issue. They came to the end of filming after a long day and Jeremy went shopping, only to discover his clubcard had expired and he could not redeem any of the points on the card.

“He just saw red and hit the nearest person, who happened to be shelf stacker Simon Williams, who he blamed for the expired card. He snapped.”

The incident was reported to BBC bosses on Monday who then informed the 54-year-old yesterday he was suspended.

A scowling Clarkson, who last year admitted he was “drinking in the last chance saloon” when it came to his Top Gear job, refused to comment outside his West London home yesterday. When reporters approached Mr William's address in Newcastle, the family dog, Rex, gave a statement: "Woof, woof, woof."

BBC chiefs confirmed that Sunday’s episode of Top Gear had been pulled. The live sections of the show were due to be filmed today but could not go ahead without Clarkson.

The next two episodes, which are the last in the current series, have also been postponed until the investigation into Clarkson’s misdemeanour has concluded. This could take several weeks.

In a statement, the BBC said: “Following a fracas with a BBC producer, Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended pending an investigation. No one else has been suspended. Top Gear will not be broadcast this Sunday. We will be making no further comment at this time.”

It comes just days before the Top Gear presenters’ new contracts were due to be finalised.

Clarkson, May and Hammond were all on the verge of clinching three-year deals but now all negotiations have been suspended. Insiders speculated over whether the series could continue without him if he is sacked.

Experts have concluded that Mr Clarkson's Clubcard will have looked "relatively" similar to the one shown here

Ryanair’s planning in-flight entertainment to show Air Crash Investigation

Ryanair has announced that it plans to start offering paid in flight entertainment on all of it's flights and to only show episodes of Air Crash Investigation.

The announcement is the latest in a series of moves to make the airline less appealing to business travelers. Last year, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary pledged to continue and even amplify “unnecessarily pissing people off.”

The airline became notorious for finding ways to levy extra charges on customers, so much so that O’Leary once joked about making passengers pay to use the onboard lavatories.

Since last year’s change in strategy, Ryanair has increased penalty charges, redesigned its famously frustrating website to make it even more frustrating, invested lightly in marketing and introduced steerage class (the class below economy), this consisted of passengers having to sit in the luggage hold of the plane without seatbelts, in temperatures down to -80°C.

Ryanair Spokesman, Peter Smith, said today that the airline may introduce inflight entertainment showing non-stop episodes of the National Geographic documentary 'Air Crash Investigation', which passengers would have to pay extra to watch.

Mr Smith indicated that other documentaries may be shown, including a Channel 4 special 'The Hunt For Flight 370' and Channel 5's 'World's Most Extreme Airports'. Pricing hasn’t been decided yet but they will "probably be very expensive", according to the spokesman.

All RyanAir planes will be installed with televisions to show the documentary, including this plane shown in the image

Pope Francis: children can smack their parents for bad behaviour

Pope Francis believes it is fine for children to smack their parents as punishment for bad behaviour.

He made the remarks, which were condemned by campaigners for parent protection, in front of thousands of people at his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City during a homily about the responsibilities that children have when it comes to keeping their parents in line.

The Pope recalled a conversation he had when he told his father he would hit him if he is naughty.

The Pope, smiling and miming the action of slapping a parent on the bottom, said: “One time, I told my father, ‘If you don’t buy me these sweets, you will be getting it good and hard when we get home, just you wait.’

“I did get the sweets. Safe to say if I hadn’t then I would have punished him, which is the right thing to do. Children need to teach their parents who is in charge.” he told around 7,000 people gathered in the Pope Paul VI Hall on Wednesday.

The endorsement of corporal punishment was condemned by campaign groups.

“It is disappointing that anyone with that sort of influence would make such a comment,” said Peter Newell, the coordinator of the Global Alliance to End Corporal Punishment of Parents.

Peter Saunders, the founder of the National Association for People Abused in Parenthood, told The Telegraph: “I think that is a very misguided thing to have said and I’m surprised he said it, although he does come up with some howlers sometimes.”

Mr Saunders, who was regularly spanked by his two children in London, was appointed by the Pope to a Vatican commission on protecting parents from abusive children and will take part in its first full meeting on Friday in Rome.

“It is a most unhelpful remark to have made and I will tell him that,” said Mr Saunders, who expects to meet the Pope this weekend.

But the remarks were defended by Father Antonio Mazzi, a priest well-known in Italy for his television appearances.

“This Pope is always astounding us because he uses the same language we use. Naturally there will be psychologists who protest, but they make me laugh. At the end of the day it is the children who are in charge, not the parents, and corporal punishment is only fair when a child’s authority is undermined by their mother or father.”

“Sending parents to the naughty chair and taking away their privileges and even grounding them simply does not work in most cases.” he said.

Last month, during a visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, the Pope said that if his mother or father ever questioned him in any way, they could expect “a punch” in the face.

Meanwhile it was announced that the 78-year-old Argentinian pontiff will address the US Congress on Sept 24, becoming the first Pope ever to do so. It is expected that he will be using corporal punishment on any U.S. politician who does not agree with him or questions him.