THE Worcestershire councillor who hired Jeremy Clarkson last night spoke of his dismay at the presenter's BBC axing - insisting it was unnecessary.

Councillor Ken Pollock said the corporation should have "fined him £100,000" rather than bring the curtain down on his time on Top Gear after Clarkson made it one of the world's top TV shows.

As your Worcester News revealed earlier this month Councillor Pollock, who sits on Worcestershire County Council, is a freelance TV producer away from politics.

The politician, now 70, helped to hire and spent the next seven years working side-by-side with the controversial Clarkson before moving to Top Gear Motorsport, a spin-off show.

BBC Director-General Tony Hall announced yesterday that his contract would not be renewed after an "unprovoked physical attack" on a producer.

Cllr Pollock, who lives in Martley, said he was "not surprised but very disappointed" by the dropping, and praised him for making Top Gear such a success.

He also said sanctions like a hefty fine could have avoided having to get rid of him altogether.

"Clearly action needed to be taken and the BBC had options available to them - they've obviously gone for the most serious one," he said.

"I just think this could have been dealt with in such way as not to destroy the show.

"We can't possibly condone violence but in the end, the BBC could have said 'this is utterly unacceptable, you've got a contract and we're knocking a nought off the end'.

"If you want to punish him you could have fined him £100,000."

He also told your Worcester News he felt the real losers would be the viewing public around the world.

"Jeremy works very hard, he does three columns a week, one for The Sun and two for the Sunday Times, all the runs of Top Gear, worldwide tours for Top Gear Live, this guy never stops working," he said.

"Often he's regarded as xenophobic but the figures disprove that, it's sold to 170 different countries and millions of people watch it and enjoy it.

"He does a lot more than just present it. It is a disappointing decision and there are big implications.

"In the end the viewers will suffer because Top Gear is so successful, it makes money and that goes back into programming."

Cllr Pollock reiterated that he "in absolutely no way condones violence".

Prior to joining Top Gear Cllr Pollock, who joined the BBC in 1977, worked on the old BBC programme Farming, which he renamed Countryfile. He joined Top Gear Motorsport in 1994, which ran until 1998.

According to the BBC inquiry, the results of which were published yesterday, Clarkson, 54, assaulted producer Oisin Tymon for around 30 seconds while shouting "derogatory and abusive language" so loudly it could be heard in a hotel bedroom.

The fracas at the Simonstone Hall Hotel in North Yorkshire earlier this month was only stopped when a witness intervened, and started after a row over food. Mr Tymon ended up with a cut lip.

Mr Hall said the decision to not renew Clarkson’s contract, which is running out this month, was taken with "great regret".

“I know how popular the programme is and I also know that this decision will divide opinion,” he said.