Military personnel have spent the equivalent of more than 140 days taking part in stunts on hit motoring show Top Gear.

The Ministry of Defence insisted taking part in the BBC show was a valuable way of raising public awareness of the armed forces' work. Equipment worth billions of pounds has been used in major setpiece scenes for the show in the last five years.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the MoD revealed that military personnel were involved in filming for the equivalent of 141 days and civilian officials spent 48 days working on items for the programme.

The two biggest events each involved the equivalent of more than 60 personnel.

In November 2008 Clarkson took part in a beach assault with the Royal Marines while driving a Ford Fiesta.

And in May 2009 Clarkson played a game of “British bulldog” against some of the Army's latest armoured vehicles at Bovington training area.

The item required 60 days of soldiers' time and involved five military vehicles.