TOP Gear presenter Richard Hammond has backed out of moving to Bucks.

He is understood to have taken a year's lease on a large house at the top of Hammersley Lane in Penn to shorten his commute to his filming commitments. But two days after moving in last weekend with wife Mindy and daughters Izzy and Willow, he decided the place was too posh.

The family have returned to Gloucestershire where they've been renting a farmhouse.

The 38 year old driver, nicknamed Hamster by his fellow Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May, survived a 288mph crash in a jet car he was testing for the programme in 2006.

Last night, his London agent Gary Farrow confirmed the family have had a change of plan.

Richard who writes a column for The Mirror told a reporter: "It only took us a couple of days to realise we were changing a lifestyle that suits us. I got there first, ready for the removal men. and as they started unloading I began to wonder. Everything was smart and rather posh and lovely but could we fit in? When Mindy and the girls arrived, I thought This isn't right.'"

He stands to lose up to £40,000 if the landlord holds him to his contract. "It's an expensive lesson," he admitted.