Clarkson's Farm complaints after Jeremy Clarkson battles council over pub

Since Jeremy Clarkson opened his Diddly Squat Farm in 2020, he has faced numerous complaints from West Oxfordshire Council regarding his various plans to expand his business. Whether this involves setting up a restaurant or a farm shop, the former Top Gear host has been embroiled in a heated feud with the local council for the last few seasons of his hit Amazon Prime show, Clarkson's Farm.

This included West Oxfordshire District Council having to release multiple statements, including one in which they accused the TV show of misleading viewers about a planning meeting where he claimed villagers turned against him. His woes with the locals began in 2022, when he planned to open a restaurant at the farm and expand his car park due to overcrowding. The Planning Inspectorate later granted permission for the extension and changes to the land's use. However, it did not allow for the addition of a restaurant.

Inspector RJ Perrins' report outlined how the council objected to Clarkson adapting the land "to a mixed agricultural and leisure attraction use, comprising cafe, restaurant, gift/farm shop, parking and lavatory facilities."

The inspector granted permission for all but the restaurant, along with permission to extend the car park and "formalise temporary parking and provision of new access arrangements." Perrins stated that the site could not currently cope with parking demand, leading to parking on adjacent fields, roads, and verges.

In Season Four of the series, Clarkson faced new challenges when he revealed his desire to open a pub and serve produce grown on the farm. After attending a pre-planning application meeting, he criticised Cotswold District Council and said it seemed "worried" he would make the pub a success.

The council later told the BBC that it "absolutely refutes" Clarkson's claims, as it alleged having "several positive meetings" about the proposals and even getting a thank-you email from his planning agent later on.

Before Clarkson met with Cotswold District Council, the Top Gear legend had a meeting at Shire Hall with Gloucestershire County Council, which described itself as "pro-business and pro-tourism" and appeared generally supportive of his plans.

Clarkson then discussed the outcome of his meeting with the district council in a defeated manner while sitting in a café in Cirencester.

He shared: "We had a man from Bourton council, and he just didn't have a single positive thing to say. People are going to come... I know they are, that's the point of a pub."

However, despite initially looking at the Grade II-listed Coach and Horses Inn in Bourton-On-The-Water, which remains closed, he later decided to purchase The Windmill in Asthall, Oxfordshire, which he has sinced renamed The Farmer's Dog.