Jeremy Clarkson: I'll quit Top Gear if we move to Manchester

Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he would quit Top Gear if the BBC moves its production from London to Manchester.



The BBC is currently moving key departments to its new base in MediaCity, Salford, and is committed to ensuring that at least 50% of its output is produced outside London by 2016.

There are currently no plans to move Top Gear to BBC North, but Clarkson has said that he would be against any future moves to do so.

The presenter described Salford as a "small suburb with little to offer beyond a Starbucks and a canal with ducks on it" in his Sunday Times column.

He added: "[Salford] is nowhere near any court that matters and nowhere near a single politician.

"Furthermore, if we ran the show from Salford, we'd be employing people from Salford. People who were born there and thought, 'Yes, I like this. I see no reason to go anywhere else'.

"And in the world of television, that could be a genuine handicap. Every year we'd end up making a Christmas special from the Dog and Duck or the nearest Arndale Centre."