Jeremy Clarkson last night launched into a bizarre rant about being sacked from the BBC , saying the upside meant he could now swear without being reprimanded . The former Top Gear presenter made his comments when he was guest of honour at a charity auction in the Cotswolds . Opening the auction in aid of Chipping Norton 's lido , he said : 'In the olden days when I used to work for BBC , I could n't say s*** - but I am not , so I will say s*** . ' Scroll down for video . Jeremy Clarkson pictured at the Chipping Norton charity gig , where he joked he was 'trawling the job centre ' Hundreds of fans paid £15 a ticket to watch the former Top Gear presenter oversee the auction . Hundreds of fans paid £15 a ticket to watch Clarkson oversee the auction at Chipping Norton town Hall . He also joked about 'trawling the job centre ' for a hosting job when he spotted an opening for the charity auction . In a typical Clarkson moment , he mistook a male bidder for a female but responded by saying : ' I have worked with James May , it is easy to get confused in these situations . ' Clarkson , who celebrates his 55th birthday tomorrow , previously lived in a sprawling £900,000 house one mile outside the town . It was his first public appearance since he was sacked from the BBC for allegedly assaulting a producer in the now infamous row over a steak supper in a Yorkshire hotel . He was accused of punching producer Oisin Tymon following a day 's filming . Clarkson was due to make his TV comeback as guest host of BBC1 's Have I Got News for You on April 23 but he pulled out of the show two weeks before it was due to be filmed . Clarkson was pictured earlier in the day chatting to locals ( left ) and waving to photographers ( right )
Jeremy Clarkson last week launched into a bizarre rant about being sacked . He claimed the result was that he could now resign without permission . Clarkson also mistook a male bidder for a female during charity gig . He later admitted to the Cotswolds club that he was ' trawling the leisure boat '