BBC hypocrites bullied me, says Top Gear's Stig

Top Gear's racing driver the Stig has accused the BBC of hypocrisy in trying to "bully" him out of telling his story.

Ben Collins was this month unmasked as the crash-helmeted mystery man after the corporation lost a High Court bid to block a book in which he revealed his identity.

It had been widely reported last year that the Stig was Mr Collins, after Top Gear was listed in his company's financial reports. The Bristol-based former US speedway driver, 35, said today of the legal action: "They wanted to bully me out of contention."

He claimed the BBC had already undermined the secrecy surrounding his identity by speculating that he was the Stig in a Radio Times feature. "It was hypocritical to suggest I'd done more to reveal myself than they had."

He said he told his executive producer in July that he had written his memoirs, after seven years on the show. "It got hostile," he said. "They said they didn't want it to happen. I wanted freedom of speech and to continue my career without being hounded."

A BBC spokesman said today: "The Radio Times - which is published independently of the BBC - used a list of possible names supplied by bookmaker William Hill on which Ben Collins's name appeared. These were already in the public domain so to say the BBC confirmed all of this is nonsense."

The BBC claimed the book would breach confidentiality obligations. After the judgment, a spokesman said: "The BBC brought this action as we believe it is vital to protect the character of the Stig, which ultimately belongs to the licence fee-payer."

The BBC may axe the Stig in the next series, which starts in December.