Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has ploughed full speed into another controversy after driving around Argentina in a Porsche with a number plate that appears to reference the Falklands War.

Producers denied the plate H982 FKL was a deliberate reference to the Falklands and 1982, the year the war was fought, instead insisting it was pure coincidence.

However, officials in the southern Argentinian city of Ushuaia accused Clarkson and his producers of “deliberate provocation”.

And it led to the Top Gear team packing up and speeding off into the sunset three days ahead of schedule, though they were still pelted with stones as they escaped over the border into Chile and an Argentinian technician hired for the shoot was injured.

But he's not the only person to court controversy with his plates. Here we look at other registrations that have caused a stir...

Jeremy Clarkson
Clarkson controversy: The Porsche with the number plate H982 FKL

‘Homophobic’ number plate withdrawn

The big surprise wasn’t that the number plate H8 GAY was withdrawn in April 2006, rather than it was ever allowed in the first place.

Labour MP Chris Bryant led the campaign to have the plate banned as it could be read as “hate gay” in text speak. Initially the DVLA refused, insisting there were no grounds of “political, racial or religious sensitivities” but it was eventually ordered to back down by Transport Secretary Alistair Darling.

In an odd twist the controversial number plate was actually bought as a joke by a gay couple who displayed it on their blue Jaguar before moving to France.

The number plate of the beast

You might think a special modified gold Range Rover worth £150,000 might be enough to raise eyebrows, but the owner went one step further to ensure his luxury car caused a stir.

The off roader also boasted a devilish number plate 666 along with a customised body kit and 23 inch alloy wheels. It was photographed in the exclusive Knightsbridge area of London in August this year after being imported by its wealthy Saudi owner.

Flashy ride: The gold Range Rover with number plate 666

Spinal Tap complainant misses the joke

Anyone who has seen - or most likely even heard of - the classic comedy spoof Spinal Tap will be familiar with the phrase “Goes to 11”, referring to the dials on the band’s amplifier.

However, Johnny Dixon, who complained to the Washington Department of Licensing to complain about the number plate GOES211 clearly wasn’t in on the joke.

He wrote: “I find it in poor taste that the great state of Washington would issue a plate that allows a driver to insinuate in public that his penis grows to 11 inches in length.”

Licensing chiefs clearly had a better sense of humour as they allowed the owner to keep the number plate and dismissed the complaint as “a stretch”.

GOES211 LIcense plate
In joke: The GOES211 registration

Southern states spark flag row

For 150 years the Confederate Flag has been a symbol that has divided America and, in the minds of many, has become entwined with racism.

But that didn’t stop the US state of Georgia giving the green light to motorists who wanted to include the flag on their licence plate. And the State of Texas has even been challenged in the US Court of Appeal over its decision to ban the use of license plates bearing the Confederate symbol.

Meanwhile the decision to ban the Scottish Saltire flag from licence plates north of the border in 2001 angered the Scottish National Party. Instead cars manufactured anywhere in the UK should bear the letters GB together with the European Union circle of stars.

Confederate Flag license plate
Controversial: The confederate flag license plate

Number plates cause unholy row

Radio host Brian Magee was refused the right to have the licence plate ISNOGOD in 2010, but he refused to take no for an answer.

Magee, who presents a show called Amplified Atheist, appealed to the North Dakota Attorney General and eventually won the right to put the plates on his Grand Cherokee jeep.

At the opposite end of the spectrum the state of Florida caused controversy when it approved two new Christian themed designs, including one that showed Jesus Christ on the cross.

ISNOGOD License plate
Appeal: Brian Magee won the right to keep his ISNOGOD number plate

‘Nazi’ number plates recalled

More than 100 Dutch drivers accidentally received licence plates with the letters NSB on them, a local equivalent of the word Nazi.

NSB is the notorious abbreviation for the Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging, the Dutch fascist party that worked with the Nazis during the Second World War.

Licensing bosses blamed the embarrassing error on a problem with the computer programme that generated the combination of letters. Other letter combinations such as KKK, for the Ku Klux Klan, PKK for the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party and PSV, for the football club Eindhoven, had already been programmed into the software not to appear together.

Blacklisted number plates

Every year the DVLA tries to head off controversy by sorting through thousands of possible combinations to bans those which may offend other motorists.

Last year the ’63’ plates that were blacklisted included FA63 HAG, NO63 END, OR63 ASM and PU63 RTY. This year plates beginning with the letters PR, SH and SL have proved most problematic as the “14” can be make to look like the letters I, A or H.

That means licensing bosses decided to ban plates like SH14TTY, J14 HAD and TR14 DDS.