Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond took a step closer to moving to ITV after it emerged the three presenters held talks with its programme chief Peter Fincham along with the show’s former executive producer, Andy Wilman.

ITV has been touted as the most likely UK broadcaster to pick up the trio after Clarkson was axed from the show after his assault on a producer and his fellow co-presenters both quit the BBC2 show.

The three met Fincham, a former controller of BBC1, along with ITV’s director of entertainment and comedy Elaine Bedell, who had previously worked closely with Clarkson at the BBC.

The meeting took place on Wednesday evening at Fincham’s home in west London.

Although the three would not be able to bring with them the Top Gear name, which belongs to the BBC, a motoring show fronted by the three presenters would be hugely appealing to ITV which has suffered a tough year in the ratings.

With the channel set to lose UEFA Champions League football at the beginning of next season, its needs more programmes that will bring in a male audience. Top Gear, which pulled in 6 million viewers on BBC2, about two-thirds of them men, would meet that need.

Clarkson, Wilman and the show’s other presenters have also been linked with a move to US video-on-demand service Netflix, with the programme, which has global appeal, shown in more than 200 countries, a natural fit with the worldwide subscription service.

An ITV spokesman said last night: “We haven’t commented and aren’t planning to comment on the continual Top Gear speculation which is swirling around the television industry.”

May ruled out a return to the BBC2 show last month saying it would be “lame” to do it with a “surrogate Jeremy”.

Hammond later appeared to join him, although BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw refused to rule out their return.

Shillinglaw has been tasked with reinventing Top Gear for BBC2 next year without any of the three stars on board. It will be no easy task, especially if the three begin presenting a rival show on ITV.

With Clarkson and his fellow presenters on board, Top Gear was one of the BBC’s most valuable properties, generating about £50m a year.

Wilman, Clarkson’s long-time friend and colleague who reinvented the show with the presenter, quit the BBC last month and later described Clarkson’s exit as a “tragedy”.