Chris Evans, the new Top Gear host, insisted yesterday that "ridiculous" bullying and other misconduct claims against him were not true as he was accused of repeatedly exposing himself and grabbing a female colleague's breasts.

The presenter, who is at the helm of a team of six who will front the new version of the show, has been accused of being "out of control" by former colleagues.

Evans, whose reinvented Top Gear begins on May 29, has been the subject of a series of tabloid allegations that he has bullied staff on the BBC show, which both he and the corporation have strongly denied.  

Friends of the star have even accused Jeremy Clarkson, the former host of the motoring show, of “fanning the flames” of the claims.

Yesterday, a female former colleague also accused the star of flashing his penis at her “almost every day for two years”.

The anonymous woman, who worked with Evans in the 1990s, told a website that after she had spurned his advances, “he often said I was crap at my job and he would sometimes grab my breasts”.

But the star has denied the programme has already run into problems and told the Sunday Mirror that the accusations of bullying have hurt his family.

He said: "All these bullying claims and other allegations are just ridiculous."

He described how he and wife Natasha and their two young children live a "normal life" in a small area and said the accusations amounted to a "witch-hunt".

Evans has been accused of bullying colleagues when he worked on The Big Breakfast in the 1990s.

His former radio sidekick John Revell claimed he was "out of control" and that BBC bosses were too scared to stand up to him.

Evans rejected these ideas.

He said: "I'm not a bully. But of course if you sling enough mud, some will stick to the wall.

"Is it hurtful to see your wife - or your children - upset? Of course it is."

The new series of programme, which Evans took over after Jeremy Clarkson was fired when he punched one of the show's producers, has been plagued with controversy since filming got under way.

The BBC was accused of pandering to political correctness in the presenting line-up and disrespecting the war dead after Matt Le Blanc and rally driver Ken Block were pictured performing "doughnuts" around the Cenotaph in London.

The stunt caused an uproar, with Evans apologising and promising the footage would not be shown.

The new series is set to air at the end of May.