SHOPPERS could be forgiven for thinking they were seeing things in Basingstoke’s Festival Place after a series of tyre tracks appeared on the shopping centre floor over the weekend.

And little did they know they were made by Jeremy Clarkson, The Stig and the Top Gear crew!

Petrolheads Clarkson and the phenomenon that is The Stig turned Festival Place into a race track on Sunday while filming for the cult BBC show.

The pair were test-driving two cars – one of which is thought to have been the new Ford Ka – around the centre’s pedestrian walkways.

While the centre was closed to the public, Clarkson and The Stig raced the cars along the wide passageways between the shops, using the twists and turns to test the cars’ turning abilities and speed.

Filming lasted about 12 hours, and finally finished at about 5am on Monday.

Steven Connolly, centre director of Festival Place, said: “We were delighted that we managed to make this happen with Top Gear.

“It’s a first for us and caused great excitement throughout Festival Place.”

He added: “We’re all looking forward to watching the programme. It was great to see Jeremy Clarkson and The Stig in Festival Place.”