Jeremy Clarkson has closed the restaurant on his farm.
Jeremy Clarkson is closing his restaurant
The 'Grand Tour' presenter had faced a backlash from locals in Oxfordshire about the eatery, which he opened in a barn in a field on his Diddly Squat farm last July, and despite his initial defiance, which saw him find a "delightful little loophole" to keep the enterprise after it was closed by council officials for breaching planning laws, he's now admitted defeat.
Jeremy wrote to West Oxfordshire District Council, who had ruled the restaurant was not in keeping with the rural area, and said: “I no longer wish to open a restaurant."
The 62-year-old star admitted he had been “thwarted by the enforcement notice” and revealed he has sold most of the cows whose meat he had planned to use in the restaurant.
Local residents in Chipping Norton have welcomed the move.
Michael Benson, of Chadlington, told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “It is a win for the community. I would like the whole thing shut down. We are just a small village and Diddly Squat Farm is in the wrong place.
“We don’t need a theme park in an area of natural beauty. The new year was ridiculous. You’d spend about 20 minutes trying to get into town.”
Neighbour Lucy Walker added: “We have been plagued with traffic since he arrived. He caused massive upset with these restaurant plans. It’s just the arrogance of what he thinks he can get away with.”
But Parish councilor Ann Gate was supportive of the 'Clarkson's Farm' star and wrote to the district council on behalf of "quietly supportive local residents", arguing Jeremy had "used his celebrity status to highlight the difficulties of the farming community”.
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