Crew on BBC2’s Arctic Live feared for their lives after their car broke down and they were circled by polar bears

BREAKING down is annoying at the best of times.

But for the production crew on Arctic Live it was a matter of life and death.

I can reveal that a cameraman had to use jump leads on one of their vehicles to quickly get the motor going as polar bears started to circle their vehicles.

Staff working on the BBC2 show, which has been capturing footage of the animals from the shores of the Hudson Bay in Canada, broke down during a return from a shoot.

When they were trying to work out what was wrong with the car, they noticed two polar bears approach.

The animals are the only ones on the planet to actively hunt humans and the team had already been warned not to leave their 4x4s unnecessarily for fear of an attack.

Thankfully, cameraman Jonathan Young managed to jump start one of the cars in time.

An insider revealed: “Jonathan thought on his feet and managed to fashion some improvised jump leads out of what he had in the vehicle. Obviously it not a place where you want to break down! Thank goodness he managed to get the car going again."

At the time presenters KATE HUMBLE, SIMON REEVE and GORDON BUCHANAN hadn’t arrived in the country.

But on arrival they were given firm warnings about the challenge they were undertaking.

Kate said: “The guy doing the briefing said: ‘I’m not somebody who’s just going to make stuff up to shock you, but you need to know what the realities are’. He said, just because they look pigeon toed and they kind of lumber through the landscape in a slightly sort of clumsy way, don’t let that fool you.

“They can run faster than USAIN BOLT and then eat you at the end of it.”

Usually unruffled by the various animals she encounters in her day-to-day job, the presenter admitted: “Is my heart rate up every time I see a bear? 100 per cent. I have a resting heart rate of 57 — while I’ve been here it’s been roughly 120! So yeah, actually, yes I’m scared!”