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Jeremy Clarkson used to sell controversial golliwogs made by his family’s firm, the Sunday People can reveal.

And the Top Gear presenter – who is in hot water over his alleged use of the “N-word” – carried on ­promoting the racist toys after a storm of protest broke out.

At one point the row over the ­golliwogs made by Gabrielle Designs was featured on national TV news.

But Clarkson’s late parents chose to ignore ­protests about the soft toys – blaming “a muesli-shoed do-gooder from Islington” who saw one in a shop window.

Clarkson’s former wife Alex Hall told the Sunday People: “Jeremy had no embarrassment at all about selling golliwogs.

"In fact he loved it.”

The events took place more than 30 years ago when Clarkson was a young man.

But they are still likely to prove embarrassing for the 54-year-old star as he faces a new race row .

He has been warned he is under threat of being sacked by the BBC after he was accused of using the ­derogatory word n***** while reciting the rhyme “Eany, meeny, miny moe” in an ­unbroadcast clip for Top Gear.

He is also said to made a ­remark offensive to south east Asians.

Clarkson was a salesman for Gabrielle Designs in the early 1980s.

At the time the firm, founded to make Paddington Bear cuddly toys, was reacting to a sales dip and brought out the new line of golliwogs.

A complaint was made after the offensive toy was spotted in a shop window.

Clarkson’s ex Alex, who met the future star in 1982 when she was 17 and he was 22, said: “Jeremy had done a stint on the Rotherham Advertiser newspaper when he left school.

"He then went to work for his parents’ firm as a sales rep.

“One of the lines he sold was the golliwog. He even gave me one.

“He had no embarrassment at all about the fact he was selling golliwogs,” she added.

“In fact, he loved it.

"I do remember there was a lot of mirth and merriment because they weren’t allowed to call them golliwogs anymore, they had to call them gollies.

“I can remember a conversation round the kitchen table. Jeremy and his family thought it was hilarious and just made light of it.

“I very much doubt Jeremy adjusted his sales pitch after all the fuss.

“He probably used the fact he’d been told to call them something else as part of his pitch. It was all fun for him and they sold quite well.”

Clarkson’s feisty mother Shirley, who died earlier this year, wrote about the furore over the golliwog sales in her 2008 memoir entitled Bearly Believable.

(Image: Splash)

She recalled: “We were, of course, ordered to stop making them. I don’t know who gave the order, presumably the Golly Enforcement Department, but we completely ignored it.”

Lawrence Davies, director of anti-discrimination legal firm Equal Justice, said: “After 1976 racism ­became illegal in the UK.

"Opponents tried to carry on regardless and one common flashpoint subsequently was the continued sale of golliwogs – a clearly potentially offensive and racist toy to those with any understanding of history.”

Clarkson was issued with a final warning by bosses at the BBC after our sister paper the Daily Mirror exposed his alleged use of the N-word.

Regulator Ofcom is also investigating another alleged by the presenter on Top Gear.

Producers had to apologise after Clarkson attracted complaints of racism.

During an episode in Burma, he was filmed looking at a bridge built for the show while an Asian man walked over it.

He was heard to say: “That is a proud moment but there’s a slope on it.”

Ofcom are investigating if the clip was a breach of their standards. “Slope” is a racist word used about south-east Asians.

Clarkson, who is also reportedly being divorced by his wife Frances, issued a video apology ­following the N-word incident.

He also confirmed that the BBC have told him he is on a final warning.

Reports say Clarkson was only spared from the sack after the BBC Director General intervened .

Tony Hall reportedly handed him the warning instead after a high-level meeting, despite the director of TV and radio Danny Cohen wanting to suspend or sack him.