The spanner thrown in the works of Jeremy Clarkson’s plans to take a Top Gear-style show to ITV could be successfully removed after lawyers for the petrolhead presenter claimed to have found a way out of attempts by the BBC to stop him working for competitors until 2017.

It is understood that a clause in Clarkson’s BBC contract stops him and his co-presenters James May and Richard Hammond from working for a rival terrestrial British broadcaster for at least the next two years.

However, Clarkson is reportedly trying to get around the contractual ban by making a new show in America – and then selling the programme to other broadcasters worldwide including ITV.

The Sunday Mirror today reported that despite the “non-compete” clauses in the ex-Top Gear trio’s contracts their lawyers are confident that a new motoring show made outside Britain could be broadcast in the UK on a streaming service such as Netflix and sold to British terrestrial channels.

“Jeremy believes they'll successfully get around the issues despite the BBC making desperate attempts to stop him,” a source told the paper.

Clarkson left the hugely successful Top Gear programme in disgrace following an investigation into a “fracas” between him and his BBC producer Oisin Tymon whom Clarkson punched in the face during a row over a lack of hot food after a day of filming.

Chris Evans was recently unveiled as his replacement on Top Gear after months of speculation and a petition to reinstate Clarkson was signed by more than a million people.

The programme will return to the BBC next year and Evans’ two new co-presenters have yet to be confirmed.

Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Show all 7 1 /7 Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Jodie Kidd What they call a dead cert: Jodie Kidd will be confirmed as the new May – the six-foot-something former model being too lofty to be the new Hammond. But does she want it? Doing the rounds of reality TV contests (Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity MasterChef, The Jump) suggests a woman in search of a future in television, and assuming that the BBC is eager to rid Top Gear of its blokey image – and Evans has said that the new line-up will include a female – then Kidd would be ideal: she drives a Maserati, posted one of the fastest laps in the programme’s “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” and, as a veteran of the fashion industry, has probably encountered her fair share of misogyny before Getty Images Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Guy Martin In retrospect, Channel 4’s Speed with Guy Martin looks like an extended audition reel for the Top Gear job, as the former motorcycle racing champ attempted to beat the world speed record for a hovercraft (as well as for a motorcycle on water!), while, like Hammond, Martin is a survivor of high-speed crashes. A television natural, Martin’s bushy sideburns will appeal to Top Gear fans who still groom like its 1974 Getty Images Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Dermot O’Leary Being a “safe pair of hands”, as Dermot has proved on The X Factor, is one thing – but unless the BBC secretly wants to kill off its troublesome export milch cow, then that’s the very last thing Top Gear needs. After all, recklessness, along with (lest we forget) some excellent, attention-grabbing motor journalism, is what has amassed fans in more than 200 countries worldwide. And will O’Leary really want to crease those impeccable suits? Getty Images Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Philip Glenister The BBC drama Life on Mars, in which a policeman finds himself trapped in 1973, proved that Philip Glenister would be game to imitate James May’s old-rocker denim look. But what has grabbed bookies’ attention is Glenister’s more recent role as presenter of Channel 4’s For the Love of Cars, in which old motors are found and restored. Still, it seems unlikely that he’ll be turning down acting gigs because he’s too busy racing Ford Cortinas across the Gobi desert Getty Images Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Steve Coogan Chris Evans would drown if he tried to trade banter with Coogan, a far sharper and funnier man who is also a petrolhead, and has driven around Italy with Rob Brydon. Those are miserable odds in the circumstances Getty Images Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? Rowan Atkinson Who says bookies don’t have a sense of humour – and I mean the odds they’re offering, not a taste for Mr Bean? A wealthy car lover, collector and sometime racer, Atkinson has appeared before as a “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car”, driving a Ford Kia. His other car is a McLaren F1 Getty Images Top Gear: Who will join Chris Evans behind the wheel? David Beckham Beckham would instantly rid Top Gear of its fashion-dinosaur image – but would he be too busy self-grooming in the rear-view mirror to actually put his foot on the pedal? And let’s face it, Becks is always more impressive when he doesn’t open his mouth. The new Stig, perhaps? Getty Images

Last month, Clarkson admitted he has been in talks with US producers, saying he has given up drinking in the evening to help him negotiate better with “Californians”.