Downing Street was condemned last night for bothering to respond to a joke campaign to make Jeremy Clarkson prime minister.

Nearly 50,000 people had signed an online petition calling for the Top Gear presenter to take over at Number 10.

Downing Street responded by posting a bizarre 55-second video on YouTube, dismissing the idea.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson features on the wall of fame of past Prime Ministers in the video

Text then flashes up on the video, which is set to classical music, saying the 49,447 people who backed the Clarkson for PM campaign made a 'compelling case'.

The door then opens and the viewer is ushered up the staircase which is lined with paintings of Britain's Prime Ministers through the ages.

At the top of the stairs the video artist has superimposed an image of Clarkson looking statesmanlike into the distance. 

Watch the video here...

But then more text flashes up on the footage, dismissing the idea of him running the country with the words: 'But on second thoughts, maybe not.'

It then finishes with Number 10's email address racing off the screen to the sound of a racing car revving its engine.

A Downing Street spokesman said the short video had been put together in 'half-an-hour' by an official working on the Prime Minister's website.

'It was a light-hearted response to a humorous petition,' he added.

The video starts by saying a 'compelling case' was made for Clarkson to be appointed PM

But people who signed the petition criticised the response.

One signatory Steve Rowley fumed: 'Do they seriously have nothing better to do with their time and my money!

'I signed the petition in good faith that they take these things seriously.'

The video also contrasted with the official reason given on the Number 10 website for the petition being rejected.

It said the campaign was thrown out because it was not an 'appropriate' issue for a petition - and 'was intended to be humorous'.