Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm ordered to close "unlawful" cafe and restaurant

6 October 2022, 13:48

Jeremy Clarkson's team deny breaking planning laws and say the enforcement notice against them should be scrapped.
Jeremy Clarkson's team deny breaking planning laws and say the enforcement notice against them should be scrapped. Picture: PA

By James Hockaday

Jeremy Clarkson has been ordered to close the cafe and restaurant at his farm after council officials claimed his business is breaching planning laws.

The former Top Gear star's eatery on Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, was opened in July, months after two previous applications were rejected.

West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) said the addition to the farm was "unlawful" and that its "nature, scale [and] siting is unsustainable and incompatible with its countryside location within the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty".

When he first opened the restaurant, Clarkson told the Sun: “We had planning permission turned down but we’re opening anyway.

“Everyone at Diddly Squat has spent the last three months becoming an expert in planning regulations and we’ve found a delightful little loophole."

Clarkson said he'd found an old barn in one of his fields and that he told WODC that he was planning to turn it into a restaurant.

An enforcement notice against the farm - as seen in Amazon Prime documentary Clarkson's Farm - was served an enforcement notice on August 12.

READ MORE: Home Office suspends ex-Met officer for racist Whats App chat

The farm is featured in the Amazon Prime documentary series Clarkson's Farm.
The farm is featured in the Amazon Prime documentary series Clarkson's Farm. Picture: PA

READ MORE: Nurses start voting on whether to strike after record-breaking numbers leave the profession

Council officials gave the farm six weeks to carry out a host of measures, including removing all mobile toilets, tables that would be used by diners and other dining-related materials.

WODC also ordered the farm to stop selling products that aren't produced in the farm or are not made within 16 miles of the site.

In a statement, the authority said: "Council officers have worked with the owner and planning agents of the business, over many months, to investigate breaches in planning control, advising on how the business can be operated in a lawful way and trying to reach a solution.

"The business continues to operate outside the planning permissions granted and advice has been ignored. The activity has also had a significant impact on the local community."

Agents representing the farm said some of the requirements were "excessive" and that the six-week period to undertake changes was too short, claiming six months would be more reasonable.

They denied that planning laws had been breached and said a map served by the council was inaccurate, arguing that the notice should be scrapped as a result.

Clarkson's appeal has been accepted and representations must be made in the coming weeks.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Owen Cooper is reportedly the youngest actor to have been nominated for the award

Teen star Owen Cooper leads British Emmy charge as 'Adolescence' scores 13 nominations

Ministers are seeking to avoid a repeat of last summer's violent anti-immigration protests, which lasted six days

Fears of riots after secret Afghan resettlement scheme exposed following MoD data breach

Physician associates (PAs) should be banned from seeing patients who have not been reviewed by a medic to prevent the risk of "catastrophic" misdiagnoses, a Government-ordered report has found.

PAs should stop being used as substitutes for doctors to prevent ‘catastrophic’ misdiagnoses, report finds

Nurse Sandie Peggie's employment tribunal resumes today.

Changing room row tribunal set to resume

Yoga, tai chi, jogging and walking could be the best forms of exercise to help tackle the sleep disorder insomnia, a study suggests.

Suffering from insomnia? Try yoga, tai chi or jogging, new study suggests

Bradley Murdoch, the killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio has died after being moved to palliative care last month.

Bradley Murdoch, Australian killer of British backpacker Peter Falconio, dies aged 67

The TV chef, 59, broke his silence on Tuesday night after the show's producers Banijay UK confirmed his contract will not be renewed.

John Torode breaks silence after being axed from MasterChef over racism claim

Last week, Dylan Earl, aged 20, and Jake Reeves, 23, became the first people to be convicted under new National Security Act powers after they were recruited by the Russian mercenary group Wagner.

Teenagers targeted by Russia and Iran for sabotage missions in Britain as state-backed threats increase five-fold

Exclusive
The Conservative leader made the declaration after it was revealed that the government spent nearly two years using an unprecedented superinjunction to prevent the public from learning about the breach.

Ministers must have power to sack civil servants after 'extraordinary' MoD data breach, Badenoch tells LBC

Exclusive
Penny Mordaunt spoke with Andrew Marr about the MoD data breach.

The person responsible for the MoD data breach should lose their job, Penny Mordaunt tells LBC

Exclusive
Defence Secretary John Healey refuses to say whether anyone has lost their job over the Ministry of Defence data breach.

Nobody has been fired over £7 billion Afghan data breach, LBC understands

Exclusive
A former Afghan interpreter told LBC that the Taliban may have used the major Ministry of Defence (MoD) data breach to target Britain's allies.

Taliban has used major data breach at MoD to target those who helped Britain, says former Afghan interpreter

People search for their belongings amid the debris of destroyed houses in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, on July 15, 2025.

Israeli strikes kill more than 90 Palestinians overnight, including 19 members of the same family

Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi, who came to the UK in 1999 and founded the Afghanistan and Central Asian Association (ACAA) to help others, said the Government must “accept full responsibility (and) offer meaningful compensation” to those affected.

MoD data breach has 'endangered lives' and 'betrayed' thousands of Afghans, says campaign group

MasterChef presenter John Torode will not return to the BBC cooking show after producers Banijay UK confirmed his contract will not be renewed.

MasterChef star John Torode sacked - after allegation he used 'racist language' upheld in Gregg Wallace report

Keely Hodgkinson runs at the London Athletics Meet in 2024

Keely Hodgkinson out of London Diamond League