Jeremy Clarkson to appear on rebranded Top Gear live shows

The first live show in the tour will take place in Belfast on 22 May

Jeremy Clarkson is to appear again on stage with Richard Hammond and James May, with whom he presented the BBC's Top Gear.

A deal has been done to fulfil a series of live shows that were planned before the presenter was dropped from the show for hitting a producer.

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

The first live show will take place in Belfast on 22 May.

BBC Worldwide said it had agreed the tour could continue "so as to not disappoint fans".

A spokesman called it "a sensible approach in the circumstances".

Thousands of people around the world had already bought tickets.

A spokesman for Brand Events, who are co-producing the shows, said they wanted to thank "ticket holders for their continued patience".

"The fans are the most important people to Jeremy, Richard and James so we're delighted to be able to say 'we're still coming'. We're sure it'll be something you won't want to miss."

The shows will take place in venues around the world including Australia, Norway, South Africa and the UK.

Live shows that were due to take place in Stavanger, Norway earlier this month have been re-scheduled to 20 and 21 June.

A Top Gear Festival planned for Sydney in April will instead become an indoor arena show staged in both Melbourne on 18-19 July and Sydney on 25 -26 July.

The live show dates are:

• 22 - 24 May - Belfast

• 5 - 7 June - Sheffield

• 13 - 14 June - South Africa

• 20-21 June - Norway

• 28 - 29 November - London O2

Clarkson was dropped by the BBC earlier this month following a "fracas" with a Top Gear producer.

There is no news yet as to whether fellow presenters James May and Richard Hammond will return to the show.

But executive producer Andy Wilman this morning denied he was quitting the hit show.

Kim Shillinglaw, controller of BBC Two and BBC Four has been asked to look into how to take the show forward without Clarkson and to work out how they can broadcast the last programmes in the current series.