The BBC will not renew Jeremy Clarkson's contract as a Top Gear presenter after an investigation concluded he assaulted his producer, according to reports.

Clarkson, one of the BBC's most popular stars, was suspended shortly after he admitted to bosses he was involved in a "fracas" with producer Oisin Tymon.

The presenter reportedly verbally abused Tymon for 20 minutes before he launched into a 30-second assault against him. The 54-year-old is said to have lost his cool after it emerged he was unable to eat steak and chips after a day's filming at the Simonstone Hall hotel near Hawes in North Yorkshire after they had stopped serving food for the day.

Lord Hall, the director general of the BBC said in a statement: "It is with great regret that I have told Jeremy Clarkson today that the BBC will not be renewing his contract. It is not a decision I have taken lightly. I have done so only after a very careful consideration of the facts and after personally meeting both Jeremy and Oisin Tymon."

He added: "The BBC must now look to renew Top Gear for 2016. This will be a big challenge and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I have asked Kim Shillinglaw to look at how best we might take this forward over the coming months. I have also asked her to look at how we put out the last programmes in the current series."

Earlier, acccording to the Guardian, the BBC announced its decision to not renew the star's contract on 25 March after examining the findings of the investigation.

Reports claimed Hall concluded he had "little alternative" to end the Top Gear presenter's his career at the BBC. Clarkson's contract was due to expire at the end of of March.

More about Jeremy Clarkson