Why Jeremy Clarkson dropped his planning battle with council despite finding "loophole"

Jeremy Clarkson with a Dewalt drill
Jeremy Clarkson using a drill on his Diddly Squat farm (Image credit: Amazon Studios)

Jeremy Clarkson has withdrawn from his planning battle against his local council, saying he no longer plans to open a restaurant.

The Clarkson's Farm star opened the Diddly Squat restaurant using a planning "loophole" in August last year, shortly after an earlier planning permission application for another restaurant near his farm shop was rejected by West Oxfordshire District Council.

Amy Willis
Web Editor

Amy spent over a decade in London editing and writing for The Daily Telegraph, MailOnline, and Metro.co.uk before moving to East Anglia where she began renovating a period property in rural Suffolk. During this time she also did some TV work at ITV Anglia and CBS as well as freelancing for Yahoo, AOL, ESPN and The Mirror. When the pandemic hit she switched to full-time building work on her renovation and spent nearly two years focusing solely on that. She's taken a hands-on DIY approach to the project, knocking down walls, restoring oak beams and laying slabs with the help of family members to save costs. She has largely focused on using natural materials, such as limestone, oak and sisal carpet, to put character back into the property that was largely removed during the eighties. The project has extended into the garden too, with the cottage's exterior completely re-landscaped with a digger and a new driveway added. She has dealt with de-listing a property as well as handling land disputes and conveyancing administration.