A crew from the BBC motoring show Top Gear has left an Argentine province after being denied permission to film by local authorities who said one of its cars had a licence plate which alluded to the Falklands War.

The programme’s crew and its host Jeremy Clarkson had been escorted to the airport.

The Top Gear crew was in Argentina to film using three cars, a Porsche, a Lotus and a Mustang. Local officials said the Porsche had the licence plate H982 FKL, which they felt was a reference to the 1982 war between the countries over the Falkland Islands.

A group of former Argentine combatants in the war had held a protest in front of the hotel where Clarkson and the BBC crew were staying.

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