BBC denies it was hacked by Jeremy Clarkson fans as site goes down days after Top Gear viewers threatened attack if show wasn't re-instated

The BBC has denied claims hackers were responsible for its website going offline this afternoon just days after Anonymous threatened to attack the Corporation if Top Gear wasn't reinstated. Those trying to log on to the site at about 1.30pm today were met with an error screen and an image of the old test card clown after the BBC encountered an internal system failure. It came just days after the so-called 'hactivists' reportedly wrote an open letter stating it would use a digital weapon called a DDoS attack to bring down the site after Jeremy Clarkson's suspension. The error message that visitors to the BBC website were met with for about an hour this afternoon after it experienced an 'internal system failure' The BBC posted this message at 1.25pm on Twitter after the website went down. The Corporation denied hackers had anything to do with it, adding that this can happen when it experiences a high volume of traffic Staying quiet: The Top Gear star was seen arriving back at his west London home today. He has not spoken publicly about the row other than to write in a column that he would not 'dwell' on the issue However, the BBC denied that hackers are involved in the incident and put it down to an internal system failure. A spokesman told MailOnline: 'The website was down for about an hour but it is all back up and running now. 'It was due to an internal system failure, which can happen when we are experiencing too much traffic or if there is an issue with our servers. RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next State Department computer network goes dark after 'Russian'... Time for old dinosaurs like me to move on hints Jeremy... 'I'd have him and his family shot': Trolls target Top Gear... Kanye West is threatened by hacker group Anonymous in video... SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share 318 shares 'Some sites were working and some weren't so not everyone trying to access the site was affected.' They added that the error screen, featuring the picture of the test card clown in front of a fire, was protocol when an error of this nature occurs. The Top Gear presenter is set to go before a disciplinary hearing this week after he got into a 'fracas' with the show's producer, Oisin Tymon, and allegedly punched him in the face. Clarkson chats to reporters after Chelsea game on Wednesday Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, pictured, was suspended from the BBC on Monday and the Corporation announced the hit motoring show would not be shown on Sunday The BBC is investigating whether Clarkson 'punched' assistant producer Oisin Tymon, right 'I was blind drunk': James May can't recall Clarkson punch He is said to have called Mr Tymon a 'lazy, Irish ****' and threatened to end his career, after a day's filming and allegedly became angry when he could not get the steak he wanted at their hotel. Clarkson was suspended on Monday and the BBC announced Top Gear would not be broadcast this weekend. But upset hackers reportedly jumped to Clarkson's defence and set up #OpBringBackClarkson, saying 'You don't wanna p*** off 300 million people... BBC you are warned… DDOS cannons will fire if you don’t comply,' according to the Mirror. An online petition to bring back the 54-year-old is already at 885,000 signatures and is the most popular petition posted on Change.org in the last two years. However the presented hinted today in his column in the Sun that he might not return to the show. He wrote: 'Nature made a mistake when it invented the dinosaur. It was too big, too violent. 'All the dinosaurs died and now, years later, no one mourns their passing. These big, imposing creatures have no place in a world which has moved on.'