Jeremy Clarkson ordered to close down restaurant, cafe in Cotswolds

Jeremy Clarkson has been ordered to shut down his restaurant and cafe less than three months after he said he had found a planning loophole that would allow them to open.

The broadcaster is appealing against the enforcement notice served on his Oxfordshire farm, Diddly Squat, where he has been involved in a long-running planning dispute with the council.

According to officials he has been accused of operating unlawfully and said the setup at Diddly Squat near the village of Chadlington is unsustainable and incompatible with its open countryside location. Clarkson has been called Britain's most unlikely farmer because of his career dismissing issues such as the climate crisis that pose an existential threat to the UK's agricultural sector. His Amazon Prime series is based on the assumption that he decided to take over the running of the Cotswolds farm he has owned for the past 14 years.

His plans for the site put him in direct conflict with the West Oxfordshire district council, which rejected two planning applications.

Clarkson told the Sun in July: "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 have found a delightful little loophole. The parking, toilets, traffic, and dining, installed by Clarkson on the farm, were visually intrusive and harmful to the Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty, according to the council the following month.

It ordered him to shut down the restaurant, or any food to be consumed on the farm, as well as remove the dining tables, chairs, picnic tables, and a mobile toilet.

Agents working on behalf of Clarkson claim that they are not in breach of planning laws and the council's decision is excessive. John Phillips Planning Consultancy wrote in their 9 September appeal against the enforcement of planning permission, which gives them the right to use the farm as a restaurant, and there has been no material change to the land.

The appeal says Diddly Squat's sale of food and use of tables and chairs is lawful and that it would take longer than the six weeks that the council has given them to remove the items.

The Planning Inspectorate, a government agency, will listen to Clarkson's appeal, but has yet to set a date for a hearing.

Representatives for Clarkson have been contacted for comment.