A long-suffering Renault Twingo was put through its paces yet again by the Top Gear team as they continued filming the show’s new series in Belfast yesterday.

Jeremy Clarkson, one of the presenters of the top-rated BBC show, drove the jaunty hatchback in a drag race on Heron Road in the city. Sadly for Clarkson, he lost to a white Fiat 500.

Later the same car was hoisted to the top of one of Belfast’s iconic Harland and Wolff cranes as part of the latest outrageous stunt by the Top Gear team.

The show’s makers are refusing to give any details of the stunts and races making up the next series of the popular series. However, it is known that the team — Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May — had come up with a plan to copy famous scenes from the film The Italian Job by racing minis through Belfast’s sewers.

In past shows, the three have raced to the North Pole, driven across the African continent and sailed cars across the English Channel.