Jeremy Clarkson forced to close controversial restaurant at Diddly Squat farm

Many locals claimed the restaurant led to disruption and heavy traffic, disturbing the peaceful rural area

Jeremy Clarkson has reportedly closed a restaurant at his Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, following a planning row.

The former Top Gear star, who now appears in Amazon Prime’sThe Grand Tourand Clarkson’s Farm, opened the venue in a barn last July, where there is also a farm shop.

The restaurant, which was situated in a field at the 1000 acre site, prompted protests from people living in the village of Chadlington.

Many locals claimed the restaurant led to disruption and heavy traffic, disturbing the peaceful rural area.

The restaurant was closed after an enforcement order from Cotswold council officials in August, with Clarkson initially determined to fight the decision. He argued that the venue did not break any planning rules.

The Sunday Mirror has now reported that Clarkson has given up. He wrote a letter to West Oxfordshire District Council, saying he had been “thwarted” by the enforcement notice. “I no longer wish to open a restaurant,” he reportedly wrote.

He added: “Contrary to some of the claims being made, I do not want to turn Diddly Squat Farm into Disneyland. It is, after all, where I live.”

The enforcement notice from the council said that various aspects of the restaurant were “visually intrusive and harmful” to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

“The unlawful use of Diddly Squat Farm by reason of its nature, scale and siting is unsustainable and incompatible with its open countryside location,” it said.

The Independent has contacted Clarkson’s representatives for comment.

This is not the only controversy Clarkson has been at the centre of in recent weeks. Last month, he sparked widespread outrage over a newspaper column in which he wrote that he dreamt of people throwing excrement at Meghan Markle in the streets. He later apologised and the article was taken down.

Clarkson’s Farm returns to Amazon Prime in February.