Stig court case must stay behind closed doors

The BBC has taken legal action to block publication by HarperCollins of an autobiography which would unmask the faceless show favourite, who speeds around a race track with a blackened visor.

It is claimed he is bound by a confidentiality agreement and that revealing who he is would spoil viewers' enjoyment of the popular BBC Two programme.

At the start of a day-long hearing before Mr Justice Morgan in London, the BBC's counsel, Richard Spearman QC, said the press and public should be excluded.

But Hugh Tomlinson QC, for the publishers, said they should stay but be subject to extensive restrictions covering the disclosure of any confidential information pending the conclusion of the matter.

The judge said publicity would plainly defeat the object of the hearing.

"It seems to me that having the hearing in private is a much more effective barrier to information which might in due course be the subject of an injunction passing more widely into the public domain."

He added that the public interest in "having justice in open court for all to hear" could be dealt with by a public judgment "in due course".

The current Stig is the second in the role. The first Stig, Perry McCarthy, was dropped in 2003 after his identity was uncovered.

After news of the legal action broke, HarperCollins criticised the corporation for using licence fee cash on moves to block the book.