Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he thought about killing himself while battling pneumonia that was so severe doctors told him he could have died.

The Grand Tour presenter fell ill earlier this month while on the Spanish island of Majorca and has opened up about his time in hospital in his Sunday times column.

He wrote that he had spent 'three nights spent spasming in my bed' before a doctor sent him for tests at the hospital. Pneumonia is an infection which causes the normal air-containing spaces within the lungs (called the alveoli) and the smaller bronchial tubes to become inflamed and fill with fluid.

Special white blood cells then travel to the lungs to fight off the infection. This all leads to impairment of the lungs' main function, which is to get oxygen from the air into the bloodstream and then around the whole body.

Pneumonia can sometimes be a complication that arises from repeated or prolonged bouts of flu, so it's important to be aware of its symptoms, particularly at this time of year. It can be a very serious health condition and can lead to death if not treated promptly. He writes: 'I'm sure many of you will have found yourself in hospital, not having planned to be there.

'But for me it was a new experience. And a weird one.

'Because I was in a room with nothing on the walls except wallpaper, and most of that was coming off.'

Clarkson has now left hospital, but faces two months of recuperation.

He added: 'This is the problem with hospitals. People who stay in them become institutionalised and incapable of speaking about anything other than what nurse brought what drug at what time.

'Boredom turns them into bores.