JEREMY Clarkson has announced he will finally open his farm restaurant today after finding a planning loophole. The Sun columnist and Clarkson’s Farm star’s original plans to open his Diddly Squat Restaurant in an old lambing barn were scuppered by his local council. But the restaurant will have its grand opening today, serving food produced […]
JEREMY Clarkson has announced he will finally open his farm restaurant today after finding a planning loophole.
The Sun columnist and Clarkson’s Farm star’s original plans to open his Diddly Squat Restaurant in an old lambing barn were scuppered by his local council.
But the restaurant will have its grand opening today, serving food produced on his 1,000-acre Cotswolds farm using a different shed.
Clarkson, 62, revealed: “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.
“We’re going to sell all the stuff we produce on the farm and finally make some profit from the stuff we grow rather than run up losses.”
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On restaurant booking site OpenTable, the petrolhead turned farmer has written: “Before making your booking, you should know it’s small, mostly outdoors and very rustic.
“We even have a tiny VIP room in an old shepherd’s hut. This seats four (just) but it is dry and warmer than outside.”
In January, West Oxfordshire District Council rejected plans for the restaurant after more than 50 objections were lodged, many about increased traffic.
The Grand Tour host added: “We aren’t able to open the restaurant where we wanted to put it and where it’s sensible to have it.
“But there is another barn in one of our fields that met various different criteria and we just told the council we were opening a restaurant there. You don’t need to ask permission.
“It’s so satisfying to be thwarted at every turn by the council and then find a loophole.”
