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The presenter courted further controversy when he claimed some races were more likely to commit certain crimes. He argued that there was no evidence of institutional racism in the police force, claiming instead that West Indians were simply more likely to mug people.

Ross had already admitted at the festival that his views were likely to get him into "hot water" again.

Last week, he was criticised for his comments on rape, when he compared "provocatively dressed" women to a bank "storing sacks of cash by the door".

Yesterday, he urged critics to read his book, Crime and How to Solve It, and Why So Much of What We're Told is Wrong. He discussed the relevance of race to crime, claiming that particular ethnic minorities had a tendency to commit certain offences.

He said there was no evidence of institutional racism in the police force simply that some minorities were likely to commit certain crimes.

"We're very bad pickpockets in this country," he said. "We're incredibly good at car crime. It does seem that contact crimes of the sort people don't like, such as mugging, are specifically of some communities from the West Indies.

"Does that mean they're worse than us? No. Does that mean they're less moral, than us? No. It just means they're not very good at pick pocketing, they do this sort of crime."