VIDEO: The Stig and Jeremy Clarkson face gunfire at Top Gear Live

ARMY snipers shot at Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson and The Stig – with help from a North Devon firm.

The dramatic stunt was watched by thousands of visitors at the Top Gear Live show, which kicked off an international tour at the NEC in Birmingham.

Bideford company Battlefield Sim Ltd, run by Paul Diamond, was commissioned by the show to create the simulated shooting using infra-red weapons.

In the show, three snipers from the Mercian regiment used replica SA80s to shoot at Clarkson and The Stig.

Battlefield Sim rigged the pair up in customised harnesses and helmets, which registered direct hits from the weapons.

Complex pyrotechnics created synchronised gunshot sounds every time the snipers fired a shot.

VIDEOS: Footage of The Stig and Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear Live.

The stunt mimicked a 2004 episode from the Top Gear television show in which Clarkson tried to evade sniper fire from the Irish Guards while driving a Mercedes SLK55 AMG and a Porsche Boxster S.

But in the live show, while the Stig tried to escape the snipers in a Caterhamsports car, Clarkson found himself in a convertible electric G-Wiz car – which ran out of power.

The snipers' scores were shown on a giant display board, allowing the audience to delight every time Clarkson took a hit.

Paul said: "You can't use blanks so the only alternative was to use electronic simulation, so we have created a bespoke system."

He said the company had only three weeks to create the system.

He said: "When we got to the rehearsals we didn't even know if it would work.

"It was a great privilege to work with Top Gear Live and we look forward to other projects.

"We are really grateful to Top Gear Live for allowing us the opportunity to supply this attraction to the live theatre show, it was a really great and challenging experience for us.

"Oh and by the way, yes, I do know who The Stig is."

Top Gear Live's creative director Roland French loved the equipment provided by the company.

He said: "The system could have been sent in some crates from the MoD as far as I'm concerned. It looked great, it's very accurate and the soldiers knew exactly how to use it."

Battlefield Sim worked with other North Devon companies to provide some of the specialist equipment and props.

They included Concept Trimming, which made the harnesses, West End Precision, which machined replica magazines, and Phoenix Assembly which provided micro-wiring services.

The Top Gear Live show is now going to Helsinki and Moscow.