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Axed Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson is to return to the BBC when he hosts Have I Got News For You later this month.

The star's Top Gear contract was not renewed after an internal BBC probe into a "fracas" in which Clarkson assaulted one of the show's producers.

But the corporation has confirmed he will record an episode of the satirical quiz show Have I Got News For You to be aired on April 24.

A spokeswoman said: "Jeremy's contract has not been renewed on Top Gear but he isn't banned from appearing on the BBC."

Jimmy Mulville from production company Hat Trick, which makes the show, told the Broadcasting Press Guild last month that he thought Clarkson was "a fantastic broadcaster".

He joked: "Maybe we will get the producer on so he can hit Jeremy Clarkson live on television."

Clarkson was criticised last month by BBC director-general when the corporation announced the host was to be axed.

Tony Hall said at the time that "a line has been crossed" and "there cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another".

Clarkson's long-term future remains unclear, although North Yorkshire Police announced yesterday he will not face police action over the attack on Oisin Tymon which happened at a hotel in the area.

It emerged last week that he will appear on stage with his former Top Gear colleagues, Richard Hammond and James May, later this year to fulfil a series of shows planned before he left the BBC.

The gigs will be stripped of all BBC branding and content, and billed as Clarkson, Hammond and May Live.

That means the shows, which will take in venues in Australia, Norway, South Africa and the UK, will not be able to use clips from the show or feature The Stig.

The move has sparked rumours that the three men intend to team up to continue their careers together after Clarkson's exit from the corporation - but sources said it is just a matter of fulfilling commitments to the fans.

The future of the show's other two presenters - Hammond and May - is unclear, with both men's Top Gear contracts having run out.