Top Gear, the BBC motoring show, was criticised by the television watchdog today for showing scenes of a man committing suicide before the 9pm watershed.

Ofcom said that the hit BBC Two programme had breached broadcasting regulations aimed at protecting children from violence by airing a spoof Volkswagen advert in which a man was shown shooting himself in the head.

Finding that the episode of the show broadcast on August 2 had breached rule 1.11 of the Broadcasting Code, the watchdog said: “This edition, the final show of the programme’s thirteenth series, featured a spoof remake of an advertisement for a Volkswagen car which showed a man committing suicide with a gunshot to the head, followed by blood splattering out after the impact.

“The scene also included a depiction of the dead man lying in a pool of blood. Fifty viewers contacted Ofcom to complain about this scene, which they felt was too graphic and unsuitable for the time of broadcast (8pm) because children were watching.”

Top Gear is no stranger to controversy, with the show’s hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May routinely attracting the attention of the regulator. Last year Ofcom dismissed 339 complaints about a joke made by Clarkson about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes.

But the watchdog said today: “In Ofcom’s view it was precisely because Top Gear is an established entertainment programme which features a typical sort of humour that many viewers — including some adults watching with children — would not have expected such a violent scene to appear.

“Ofcom noted there was no information before the spoof advertisement which would have prepared viewers for its potentially disturbing nature and alerted adult viewers to the fact that it may be unsuitable for younger viewers.

“These factors taken together meant that the scene exceeded audience expectations for the programme and led Ofcom, on balance, to conclude that there was no editorial justification for its inclusion.”

The BBC said that it had noted Ofcom’s finding. Top Gear will return to BBC Two this Sunday but the start time has been put back to 9pm so that it does not clash with the ITV ratings juggernaut, The X Factor.

Andy Wilman, executive producer of the show, said: “We had no choice really: X Factor on at the same time with the results show, Cowell on storming form, the whole nation glued — we know when to bravely bugger off and wait until the storm passes.”

Ofcom dismissed three other complaints against the show about gags about Asperger’s syndrome, the use of the word “pikey” and a joke about the fuel economy of a German car, the Volkswagen Scirocco, being such that it was capable of travelling from Berlin to Warsaw “in one tank”.

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