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Top Gear has come under fire after Jeremy Clarkson was filmed driving over one of the last pristine wildernesses in southern Africa.

Clarkson led a convoy of vehicles – said to include a 4x4 and a pick-up truck – across Makgadikgadi salt pans in northern Botswana, causing damage which could take decades to repair.

Clarkson, who famously said there was no tree, leaf, lawn or peat bog he would not drive over was recently filmed making a road trip across the world's largest salt pan.

The 12,000 square mile Makgadikgadi salt pans are a national park and a breeding ground for endangered birds including two species of flamingo.

They are also home to one of Africa's last zebra migrations and are considered by the Environmental Investigation Agency to be a fragile eco-system.

The organisation, which has worked in the Makgadikgadi Pans area for five years, believes the publicity created by the programme will encourage an influx of thrill seekers who could threaten the area's wilderness status.

Mary Rice, EIA head of campaigns, said: "The problem with the Top Gear thing is that it's not so much the area they are promoting, as the activity. The programme is extremely popular in southern Africa with car fans.

"You will get adventurers going out and finding the last wilderness so they can say they've been there."

The Top Gear team were told by locals to stick to the tracks when filming, but EIA were informed they ignored the advice.

A BBC spokeswoman said any tracks made by the Top Gear crew would be washed away in the rainy season, but Mrs Rice claimed the fresh tracks will not disappear for a decade.

Mrs Rice said: "Guides saw them driving off the tracks and approached them and told them they shouldn't be doing that and were ignored. They will have left behind a legacy."

The BBC said they employed experts who ensured the team did not go near any conservation areas.

"We categorically deny any claims that we made permanent damage to the pans," a spokeswoman said.

"We received full backing from the Botswana government and the shoot was carried out under local supervision, under very responsible conditions."

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