Jeremy Clarkson has confirmed that he will no longer challenge the council’s ruling that he cannot run the Diddly Squat restaurant from his farm.
The presenter has been in a tussle with the council ever since he initially opened the concept back in July 2022, despite his planning application having been rejected by the council. Ignoring the rejection, Clarkson opened the restaurant saying he was using a 'delightful little loophole' (essentially changing the location of the restaurant from the lambing shed to a different shed).
At the time, he told The Sun, 'It’s so satisfying to be thwarted at every turn by the council and then find a loophole.'
While the restaurant was open, diners were warned before booking, 'it’s small, outdoors and very rustic'. There was no menu, only a promise of 'snacks, a roast and pudding'. Yet, despite this less-than-glamorous setting, the 40-cover restaurant received very positive reviews, most likely thanks to top chef Pip Lacey overseeing the food.
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At the time of its opening, The West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) issued a list of orders to be completed within six weeks of the notice being served - a deadline that passed without sufficient measures being taken.
The list included tasks such as removing all mobile toilets, tables for dining and 'landscaping materials'. The council also said the farm shop could only sell products from the farm itself or within 16 miles. This meant that the celebrity's own book isn't allowed to be sold. Speaking to the Daily Mail, the former Top Gear host said: 'They claim they weren't made locally but I wrote them at my kitchen table, and you literally can't get more local than that.'
Dean Temple, who works for the planning committee in West Oxfordshire, said that Clarkson 'may have a valid point' about where the book was written, but added: 'He wanted to open a farm shop to sell milk and honey and we said go ahead.
'If you are going to open a farm shop that is for farm produce and a book isn't farm produce, wherever it's written. If he'd phoned up and said 'I want to sell my book alongside produce' we could have discussed that but he didn't.'
Agents working on behalf of Diddly Squat farm, however, told a different story. In their eyes, some of the requirements were 'excessive', adding that a map the council included in the notice was inaccurate, thereby invalidating the entire notice. They also were of the opinion that back in the summer six weeks wasn’t enough time and that six months would be a 'more reasonable timeframe'.
As it stands, Clarkson seems to be admitting defeat, with no plans to re-open his restaurant. If celebrity restaurants are your thing, we recommend checking out Idris Elba’s wine bar, Porte Noire.