Visitors to Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm chew up grass verges with their 4×4 cars
Visitors to Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm today chewed up grassy verges in their 4x4s as arguments over a new parking space heated up among locals.
Numerous vehicles crashed again on the popular Oxfordshire site this morning, with long queues outside the Amazon presenter’s farm shop.
But as its popularity continues to soar, the farm’s lack of suitable facilities to handle such an influx of customers was once again exposed.
A number of cars were parked on boggy hills on the side of a road outside Diddly Squat, which have deteriorated in recent days as more and more people flock to them.
Clarkson remains embroiled in an appeals battle with West Oxfordshire District Council, which refused to give him permission to extend the store’s car park in May last year.
Visitors to Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm chewed up grass verges with their 4x4s today as the row over a new parking spot heats up among locals
Dozens of vehicles descended on the popular Oxfordshire site again this morning, with long queues outside the Amazon presenter’s farm shop
But as its popularity continues to soar, the farm’s lack of suitable facilities to handle such an influx of customers was once again exposed
Jeremy Clarkson was filmed yesterday by a camera crew at his Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire. The former Top Gear star is pictured with partner Lisa Hogan
A two-day planning inspection meeting was held this week to consider proposals from the 62-year-old former Top Gear presenter to accommodate an additional 70 vehicles.
The WODC opposes the plans on the grounds that it would encourage more visitors to Diddly Squat farm – which is located between Chadlington and Chipping Norton – adding to traffic problems.
The council has also said allowing more vehicles would further disrupt the tranquility of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Clarkson said on Twitter that the recent furore “makes it sound like a civil war is raging” but insisted “a compromise will be reached.”
It comes after it was revealed that teenage workers at Diddly Squat are required to wear bodycams to record abuse from angry locals over the influx of visitors.
Annabel Gray, 32, who works on a catering truck at Clarkson’s farm, said this week that workers over the age of 16 on the farm must have cameras on their uniforms.
She also responded to a complaint made at a rally by Chadlington resident Hilary Moore, who described the tourists attracted to the farm as “motorheads” who drive slowly on the surrounding roads to “show off their cars.”
But Ms Gray said this description was ‘unfair’ and that she had ‘witnessed local people’ compounding traffic problems by also driving slowly.
A number of cars were left on boggy hills on the side of a road outside Diddly Squat, which have deteriorated in recent days as more and more people come to visit
Clarkson remains embroiled in an appeals battle with West Oxfordshire District Council, which refused to give him permission to extend the store’s car park in May last year
A two-day meeting of the Planning Inspectorate took place this week to consider proposals from the 62-year-old former Top Gear presenter to accommodate 70 additional vehicles
Ms Gray, who is also a farmer’s daughter, said Clarkson’s shop provides ‘important’ education for visitors, some of whom don’t realize that ‘beef burgers come from a cow’.
Other villagers who support the Diddly Squat farm have described it as the ‘crown jewel’ of sustainable living, while begging their council to allow the expansion plans.
It comes as camera crews were spotted in Chipping Norton yesterday to resume filming of his hit series, Clarkson’s Farm.
Yesterday it also appeared that the broadcaster has invested in a new beer trailer to serve its flagship Hawkstone lager.
Farmhand Kaleb Cooper shared a photo of the new “mobile bar” on Instagram – featuring a picture of a gray trailer with pink paint across the roof.
While it’s not clear what permissions Clarkson will need to place the bar on his land, temporary structures that are used fewer than 28 days a year generally do not require planning permission.
He already sells alcohol in his store, so he may not need an additional alcohol license.
Clarkson’s struggles have prompted some councilors to call on officials to go easy on the star, with Liam Walker – a Conservative member of Oxfordshire County Council – suggesting he was being treated differently from other developers.
The WODC opposes the plans on the grounds that it would encourage more visitors to Diddly Squat farm – which is located between Chadlington and Chipping Norton – adding to traffic problems.
The council has also said allowing more vehicles would further disrupt the tranquility of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Visitors walk on the road as dozens of cars are parked on grass verges near Diddly Squat Farm
“Jeremy is Marmite and he knows it,” he told MailOnline.
“Of course the council will say that all planning applications are treated at face value, but I wonder if some of my council colleagues came to it with a predetermined position.”
Clarkson is also challenging his decision to close his restaurant on the same plot of land after he allegedly opened it last July without planning permission.
It comes as a court heard how Clarkson’s sidekick, Mr. Cooper, was the first to react after a “selfish and careless bat out of hell driver” plowed into a Ford Ka outside the TV star’s farm.
Mr Cooper was on hand to close the road to traffic after 25-year-old Lewis Smith ignored the give way signs at a junction on the A361 near Chadlington and drove his Ford Fiesta into the oncoming car in September 2021.
The driver of the KA, a woman in her 50s, and Smith’s passenger, a man in his 20s, suffered serious injuries.
Smith, who was not wearing a seatbelt with his passenger, was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
.