The uncertainty surrounding the future of the BBC's Top Gear continues after the show's executive producer Andy Wilman denied a leaked email to staff titled "Au revoir" meant that he had resigned.

Wilman was widely reported to have quit the show, following the sacking of his close friend Jeremy Clarkson.

"Our stint as guardians of Top Gear was a good one, but we were only part of the show's history, not the whole of it. Those two words are bigger than us," said Wilman in his lengthy email, that had all the hallmarks of a valedictory statement.

But now Wilman, widely credited as the brains behind the show's irreverent style and humour, claims he has not walked.

"The email I wrote yesterday was not a resignation statement, and nor was it meant for public consumption," he said.

"It was a private note of thanks to 113 people who have worked on the show over the years, but clearly one of those 113 is a bit of a tit, because they shared it with a website.

"I don't get this modern obsession with sharing, linking, forwarding, re tweeting; whatever happened to a private moment?"

He went on to  say that if he were to resign he'd do it "old school" by handing in his notice "to someone upstairs in HR".

A BBC spokesman also denied Wilman had followed Clarkson and script writer Richard Porter out the door.

"Andy's email was intended as a heartfelt message to people who had worked with him and Jeremy, to recognise the fact that with Jeremy leaving it was the end of an era," said the spokesman.

"It was not a farewell but a thank you to people who have been important to the show over the last 12 years."