Uncivil war breaks out as Cotswold locals row with Jeremy Clarkson

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson dramatically clashed with angry locals at a town hall showdown last night â€" and was given the middle finger by a critic when he arrived â€" over controversial plans to develop his Diddly Squat farm shop that has brought ‘traffic chaos’ to their tranquil Cotswolds village.

The former Top Gear host, 61, called the meeting at the Memorial Hall in Chadlington, Oxfordshire to quash neighbours’ fears about the growing popularity of the shop and its impact on the community after being accused of opening a rural ‘theme park’ and playing at being a farmer.

Locals at the meeting said the star is planning to convert the disused lambing shed on his 1,000-acre farm Diddly Squat â€" named as such because it made no money â€" and use it for a kitchen and 60-seat restaurant serving meals for £30-a-head.

Hundreds of fans from across Britain have queued for hours at a time to get inside Clarkson’s beloved Farm Shop since his fly-on-the-wall series Clarkson’s Farm landed on Amazon Prime this summer and unexpectedly took the country by storm. 

But locals remain divided about the surge in tourists to Chadlington, with some saying it has put the Oxfordshire village on the map and boosted the local economy while others are concerned it could transform the community for the worse. 

And Mr Clarkson offered an olive branch, saying last night he hoped the ‘enormous crowds’ would diminish, admitting they have been ‘a bloody nuisance and you have my absolute sympathy’. He said: ‘They like to come in and wee on my drive. I am just as keen as all of you to try and manage the situation’

And he also offered VIP passes for villagers and to fund a large no speeding sign. 

Police have even been called out to manage traffic chaos caused by Clarkson fans descending on his farm in the hope of meeting the TV star and to check out his stock, which includes honey, chutney and T-shirts.  

Jeremy Clarkson addresses a town hall meeting called to discuss his farm shop â€" and was given the middle finger by one local

Jeremy Clarkson arrives at the town hall meeting called to discuss his farm shop

People queue to the town hall meeting called to discuss Jeremy Clarkson’s farm shop

Jeremy Clarkson at the Memorial Hall in Chadlington, where he held a showdown meeting with local residents over concerns about his Oxfordshire farm shop

Also seen arriving at the hall were Charlie Ireland (left), Mr Clarkson’s reliably measured farm manager, and straight-talking Kaleb Cooper (right), who regularly shouts at the star during the hit Amazon Prime series and tells him he has ‘f**ked up’ 

Jeremy Clarkson (pictured) called a meeting at the Memorial Hall in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, at 7pm after hearing rumours of concerns about his exceptionally popular farm shop

The popularity of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime has led to queues for the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, with neighbours growing concerned with the increase in traffic in the area

Given the middle finger on entry and branded â€˜a media personality not a farmer’: How Clarkson admitted his own  customers are a ‘bloody nuisance’ in fiery meeting with Cotswold locals

Diddly Squat’s ‘theme park’ farm shop must close 

Maggie Jackman, sponsorship manager for British Dressage, said Clarkson’s shop had become “a theme park”. 

She added that Clarkson should close its doors “until he has all the infrastructure sorted so it doesn’t cause that chaos”. 

Clarkson branding his own customers a ‘bloody nuisance’

The star tried to placate angry locals by admitting the crowds ‘a bloody nuisance and you have my absolute sympathy’.

He said: ‘They like to come in and wee on my drive. I am just as keen as all of you to try and manage the situation’

Locals call him ‘a media personality not a farmer’ 

One critic stood up and said: ‘The thing is Mr Clarkson, you are not a farmer. You are a media personality and farming to you is a sideline. But this is our village and we have to live with the consequences.’ 

Another villager told Clarkson that his farm shop offered little to locals. ‘I wonder how many people in this room have actually been up there,’ he asked, to which one resident replied, ‘Have you seen the queues? We couldn’t get in if we wanted to.’

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Amid mounting local fury at Clarkson’s application for planning permission to develop the site, the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host invited around 80 locals to join him in the village hall from 7pm to discuss the controversy over cheese and wine.   

During the heated clash with villagers, one local man raged: â€˜The things is Mr Clarkson, you are not a farmer. You are a media personality and farming to you is a sideline. But this is our village and we have to live with the consequences.’ 

Another villager told Clarkson that his farm shop offered little to locals. ‘I wonder how many people in this room have actually been up there,’ he asked, to which one resident replied, ‘Have you seen the queues? We couldn’t get in if we wanted to.’

But others were vociferous in their support for Clarkson. One woman, who asked not to be named, said: ‘As far as I’m concerned he is doing a brilliant job. I have been in the village 56 years and I’ll say this, those complaining are a bunch of t**ts. Why the hell should he have to do this at all? No other farmer would have to do it. I came just to see who the gits are lining up against him.’ 

Arriving five minutes before the start of the meeting in a green Range Rover, Clarkson was asked about the traffic caused by the popularity of his show. He quipped to reporters in the overflowing car park: ‘Well, the village has created a lot of traffic of its own tonight.’ 

Quizzed about what he thought might happen, Clarkson added: ‘Who knows? I’m just here to listen. Gossip spreads in villages and they don’t know what we’re doing so I thought, the best thing I can do is come down and say, ‘This is what we’re doing’, and then it isn’t gossip any more. 

‘Someone gave me the finger on the way in.’

Also seen arriving at the hall were Charlie Ireland, Clarkson’s reliably measured farm manager, and straight-talking Kaleb Cooper, who regularly shouts at the star during the hit Amazon Prime series and tells him he has ‘f**ked up’.  

Posters around the village read: ‘As there seems to be some debate in the village about what’s going on at Diddly Squat, Jeremy Clarkson will be at the Memorial Hall to explain his plans and to take any questions you may have. 

‘Everybody from the area is welcome to attend. Cheese and wine will be provided.’ 

Several times in the meeting, Clarkson pitched himself as the hard-pressed farmer, having to diversify to make ends meet. He spoke of the impossibility of competing against Australian imports and referenced the ending of subsidies. 

One audience member criticised his decision to change the name of the farm from its original title, Curdle Hill Farm. Clarkson said it still officially had that name and Diddly Squat was a trading name, adding : ‘Diddly Squat… which is how much money it is making.’

Clarkson said that he had considered holding a village fete but complained of having so many hoops to jump through to keep the media at bay.

But he went on: ‘Let us have a village evening, about 4.30pm.’ He also promised to look into VIP passes for villagers and a ‘small discount’.

One local campaigner said spoke of the frightening speeds reached on the country lanes by his customers leaving his shop and asked if he would back a 20mph limit.

To quell his neighbours’ fears, Clarkson has invited the local community (poster pictured) to join him in the village hall at 7pm to discuss the farm shop and enjoy cheese and wine

Clarkson retorted: ‘In all conscience I can’t do that having spent much of my life complaining about such things.’

But he was told that the village contained increasing numbers of children and there were concerns about speeding.

He said: ‘I can’t be held responsible for what people do when they leave my shop. I already have a sign urging people to drive slowly, I will put up a bigger one.’

He added: ‘We were overwhelmed by what happened after the show launched. We had no idea of the impact it would have. Now we can stop and think about how we can continue to employ 15 people on the farm and making it grow while not spoiling anyone’s life in the village.’

After an hour, Clarkson, wearing a check shirt, navy jacket and jeans, called time on the meeting and left in his Range Rover.

His audience gave mixed reactions.

Maggie Jackman, formerly a critic, said: ‘He is very very aware of the problems. He is very entertaining and a lot of people were completely won over.’

But Tony Allan, who has brought up a family during 35 years in the village, said: ‘He says he is now a farmer but really he is first and foremost a media personality and he is turning the village into a reality TV show. He is very convincing but what will be left after he has moved onto something else.’

Local doctor Jonathan Moore, 53, said: ‘There were some people with strong views both ways but those with negative views probably made them more strongly.

‘I don’t think anyone could have dreamt the show would be so successful. I went to his farm shop before the show and you’d be lucky to see two people there all day. There is no doubt that shops and pubs in the village have done better since the show. I think it is good for the village as long as it is controlled.’

Dr Moore said Clarkson had clarified that he is looking to turn his lambing shed into a restaurant and kitchen with seats for 60 customers, not the 150 previously claimed.

‘He said that other places locally were very expensive and his would be cheaper,’ said Dr Moore. ‘Many places are £120 for a meal for two and he said he would be doing it for £60.’

Clarkson began the meeting by talking about his new-found love of ‘ecological farming’ and how he had tried to get more insects, kestrels and otters onto his farm.

He then explained that it was impossible to make money as a meat farmer because he could not compete with cheaper imports from Australia. ‘The only way is to sell the cow in my own farm shop,’ he said.

Last November he submitted a Building Control Application to convert his lambing shed into a cafe to ‘sell alcohol and provide entertainment’. This was given an ‘initial acceptance’. And earlier this year, he was given permission to sell alcohol at the premises from 9am until 11pm.

Jeremy Clarkson arrives at the town hall meeting called to discuss his farm shop

Jeremy Clarkson taking photos with locals ahead of his showdown with villagers angry over his popular farm shop

People queue to the town hall meeting called to discuss Jeremy Clarkson’s farm shop

In June, he employed an Oxford-based planning consultancy, to request ‘new rear access door and replace existing fabric roller shutters and gates with new solid roller shutter doors. Alterations to timber cladding to close gaps.’

He told the meeting: ‘I am converting the lambing shed because I no longer have sheep. I will convert it into, well, who knows.’  

Clarkson said farmers were left having to find alternatives in the light of Brexit: ‘Some will go for glamping, some will go for stock car racing. We have to make the business pay. We have to sell everything on the farm otherwise the farm goes out of business.’

Other locals challenged him on the scale of the traffic and expressed doubts that an expansion of his farm business would do anything but bring more traffic to the area.

He responded: ‘You have my complete sympathy. I am just as keen as you are to try to manage the situation. I have people peeing on my drive. Look, I hope that now the school holidays are over and the pandemic is, hopefully, easing, there will be less.’

Locals have accused Clarkson of playing the system and taking a stealthy approach to achieving his aims which would threaten the existing shop and pub in the village.

In a written objection, one local woman, Hilary Moore, referred to the ‘ridiculous situation’ caused by the existing farm shop and the influx of his fan base.

She added: ‘Now our roads are clogged with traffic and the whole area is becoming a danger zone with fast cars showing off their speed on narrow lanes, traffic queueing for a mile or so, blocking roads and compromising access for emergency vehicles.

‘The farm shop should be closed down immediately and no more permission granted for further development…eg the 150-seat café that is proposed.’

Initially posted on the village community Facebook page, one person suggested that the meeting would be packed, joking that Clarkson might need a larger venue like the Royal Albert Hall. 

Chadlington residents were left horrified as large queues formed on the usually quiet country roads in the idyllic Cotswolds countryside

Those in attendance didn’t seem to mind though, with several tweeting about the ‘great atmosphere’ on display

Chadlington Parish Council said it had no objections to Clarkson’s planning application, but, if approved, it should not confirm a change of use status for this agricultural building.

It pointed out that in November 2020, an application had been made to convert a lambing shed adjacent to the shop into a cafe and in February 2021 for a licence to sell alcohol and provide entertainment.

‘The parish council remains concerned regarding the effect of the incremental development at this location, both upon the local community, its existing shops and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,’ it added.

‘The number of cars currently visiting this site is already substantial, often filling the existing available parking space and overflowing onto the Chipping Norton Road, which is hardly desirable in an AONB and creates a significant risk that accidents will occur.’ 

Searches for homes to buy in Chadlington jumped by 511 per cent in June 2021, when compared to the same period in 2020, according to property website Rightmove.

The website suggested viewers have been captivated by the local countryside and looked at homes for sale in and around the area where Clarkson’s Farm is filmed. 

On Clarkson’s Farm, Clarkson works on his 1,000 acre plot of land, located between Chipping Norton and Chadlington in the idyllic Cotswolds countryside in Oxfordshire. 

The former petrol-head appears to have settled for a serene farming lifestyle as part of his new hit Amazon Prime series.

But the show’s roaring success â€" and the opening of Clarkson’s popular Diddly Squat Farm Shop â€" has created chaos for villagers who are more accustomed to cows than congestion. 

Speaking previously about the farm shop’s success, Clarkson said: ‘I mean, if we’d built a nuclear power station I could understand their concerns, but not a tiny farm shop.’

The broadcaster bought the plot of land in 2008 and Clarkson’s Farm follows the presenter’s highs and lows of tackling the 1,000 acre working farm. 

The presenter recently revealed he was ‘the happiest he has ever been’ and that he ‘loved every second’ of filming the new hit show. His Diddly Squat shop is described as a ‘small barn full of good, no-nonsense things’ on its official website. 

The Amazon Prime series follows an intense and frequently hilarious year in the life of Britain’s most unlikely farmer and his team, as they contend with the worst farming weather in decades, disobedient animals, unresponsive crops, and an unexpected pandemic.

‘The REAL star of Clarkson’s farm’: Despairing farmhand, 21, who’s never read a book or left his Cotswold town wins army of 80,000 fans after clashes with ‘difficult’ Amazon star who ‘never listens’

Jeremy Clarkson’s fly on the wall documentary about his Cotswolds farm is a huge hit â€" but an exasperated young tractor driver who regularly shouts at the star and tells him he has ‘f***ed up’ has become the unlikely hero of the show.

Straight-talking Kaleb Cooper, 21, is filmed repeatedly giving Mr Clarkson, 61, a dressing down during the hit Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm, freely admits his millionaire employer ‘really annoys me’ and declared today: ‘I’m the boss really’.

Mr Cooper, who was born and bred in the Cotswolds and hadn’t left the area until the show was made, couldn’t be further from the Chipping Norton set Mr Clarkson is a member of. But he has helped the former Top Gear presenter and amateur farmer get to grips with his 1,000 acre farm in Oxfordshire, with the pair becoming an unlikely TV double act.

The Manchester United fan, who recently had a baby son Oscar with his girlfriend Taya, Ieft school at 16 and did four years as an apprentice on a cow farm before moving to Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm to drive tractors.

But such is his success, and thanks to the army of 80,000 loyal Instagram fans built since the show began, Kaleb’s is now being tipped for his own TV career â€" and he admits he would even consider going on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!.

Speaking today Kaleb told ITV’s This Morning: ‘I’m the boss really. It’s very difficult to work with him â€" he doesn’t listen to me â€" but the good thing is he does have a genuine interest in the farming. But yeah he don’t (sic) listen, that’s why you see me shout at him, and I do get genuinely angry when he does make a mistake’.

An exasperated Kaleb Cooper, 21, has to deal with one of Mr Clarkson’s farming blunders on the show

Despite the on-screen rows, Kaleb and Clarkson have also become great friends

Kaleb is  proud dad who recently had a baby son, Oscar, with his girlfriend Taya (pictured together)

Kaleb’s girlfriend Taya, who is the mother of their baby son Oscar 

Mr Cooper says the star is his boss and his friend, but the show reveals they have a fiery relationship, with Clarkson often causing chaos on the Lamborghini tractor he bought for his fields, and Kaleb sometimes storming off in frustration.

In one hilarious moment in Season 1 of the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, Kaleb gives him a dressing down when Jeremy spectacularly failed to get to grips with seeding crops. 

An irate Kaleb yells at him: ‘You’re going to have no tramlines â€" so when I come to spray it and fertilise it, how do I know where to drive?’

When Mr Clarkson promises to do it ‘properly’ now, Kaleb angrily continued: ‘No, it’s too late. You’re pretty much screwed.

‘You haven’t even drilled it straight. That’s as straight as a roundabout’, he yells, before storming off.

Clarkson, known for his fiery temperament that saw him sacked by the BBC for punching a Top Gear producer, says humbly: ‘I’ve learnt my lesson now, I won’t do it again’ before promising to buy his young charge a beer to say sorry.

Mr Clarkson is known for being fiery, but appears to accept criticism from the young farm worker

The young farmer now has 80,000 fans on Instagram and could be heading for a career in TV

Explaining why he gets so upset, Kaleb said: ‘He does annoy me sometimes. I take it quite seriously, you see.

‘I’ve farmed there for the last four years, and I know everything about it. So, I kind of treat it as my own, in a way, so I wanted to see it making money and doing very well. So, if he does f*** up, it really annoys me’.  

Best Kaleb moments 

Tractor driver Kaleb Cooper, 21, has become the unlikely star of the hit Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm.

 Here are five of his best moments: 

1. ‘You’re pretty much screwed’

Kaleb gives Clarkson a dressing down after he makes a mess of seeding crops, prompting the young tractor driver to storm off.    

2. ‘Who’s Moses?’

Kaleb is left confused after Clarkson compares himself to Moses, admitting he’s never read the Bible.

In fact almost all of Clarkson’s cultural references fly right over his head. 

3. The constant backchat

Viewers delighted in Kaleb’s willingness to take Clarkson down a peg or too if ever the TV host showed even a glimmer of confidence in his farming ability. 

4. ‘Where’s Oklahoma?’ 

Kaleb’s in-depth knowledge of his field(s) has amazed fans, even more so because he seems to know little else about the outside world 

5. Hair journey

Fans know that Kaleb loves trying out different hair cuts but has yet to achieve his goal of getting a perm

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Mr Clarkson has said previously he knew immediately Kaleb was perfect for the show. 

He said: ‘We needed a tractor driver for the series and we looked everywhere.

‘I said ‘I tell you what, you could look at the guy who’s actually doing the tractoring here now anyway’.

‘So we got Kaleb and I think you’ll all agree he’s good on television. He knows his stuff, he’s young, he’s got bad hair â€" everything was right’.

He added: ‘He does give me a hard time but I quite like that. It’s a good working relationship. It’s good working on the farm and it’s good working on TV’.

Many are tipping Kaleb for a future in TV. 

He said: ‘That’s a very big question and I’m not really too sure how to answer that. In terms of TV, I’ve loved it. I picked it up so quickly and the crew we had here â€" I got on with them so well. The camera man is here now laughing going ‘yea, yea, yea’.

‘Personally I would love to [do more TV] but as long as it’s included in the farming side of stuff. I wouldn’t want to do anything that isn’t farming.’

When asked about a reality show, he said: ‘No not Love Island. Maybe I’m A Celebrity. I’d be good on that. But I’m not sure to be honest. We’ll see what the future holds.’  

The ex-Top Gear host, 61, appears to have settled for a serene farming lifestyle as part of the show.

In the series, Clarkson works on his 1,000 acre farm, located between Chipping Norton and Chadlington in the idyllic Cotswolds countryside in Oxfordshire

Clarkson bought the plot of land in 2008 and Clarkson’s Farm follows the presenter’s highs and lows of tackling a 1,000 acre working farm. 

The presenter recently revealed he was ‘the happiest he has ever been’ and that he ‘loved every second’ of filming the new hit show.

His Diddly Squat shop is described as a ‘small barn full of good, no-nonsense things’ on its official website. 

The OTHER star of Clarkson’s Farm: Gerald the dry stone waller who inspired the Top Gear star to launch his show already has his own fan account on Twitter despite an accent so thick many need to turn on the subtitles

A dry stone waller who inspired Jeremy Clarkson to launch his new farm show already has his own fan account on Twitter despite having an accent so thick that many viewers have been left needing to turn on the subtitles. 

Gerald Cooper, who is 72 according to the Top Gear star, has stolen the show alongside a younger farm hand Kaleb Cooper, 21, and the pair have won the nation’s heart for not letting outspoken Clarkson get away with any nonsense.  

The Amazon Prime series follows an intense and frequently hilarious year in the life of Britain’s most unlikely farmer and his team, as they contend with the worst farming weather in decades, disobedient animals, unresponsive crops, and an unexpected pandemic on Clarkson’s farm in Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds. 

Clarkson recently revealed that Gerald’s funny demeanour inspired him to create the show. 

Gerald Cooper (pictured with Clarkson), who is 72 according to the Top Gear star, has stolen the show alongside a younger farm hand Kaleb Cooper, 21, and the pair have won the nation’s heart for not letting outspoken Clarkson get away with any nonsense

He told Farmers Weekly: ‘He’s such a character, I knew he’d be great on TV.’

Gerald has been combine harvesting on the farm for 50 years and seems to have a constant smile on his face. 

However in one hilarious encounter, Gerald is helping Clarkson to harvest crops but because of his thick West Country accent the Top Gear presenter was unable to understand him at all. 

And in the end some of the crops were wasted because Clarkson couldn’t keep up with Gerald. 

Clarkson recently revealed that Gerald’s (pictured) funny demeanour inspired him to create the show

Gerald has been combine harvesting on the farm for 50 years and seems to have a constant smile on his face

Clarkson told the Oxford Mail: ‘It doesn’t matter if you can’t understand what he’s talking about, because he’s usually talking about Manchester United. 

‘He’s fantastic. We’ve known each other for a very long time. He’s 72, also never been outside the village, but has worked on this farm for 50 years. He’s a great dry stone-waller, which is a dying art.’

Gerald has caused such a stir amongst viewers that he already has his own fan account on Twitter where people can post their favourite clips of him from the show. 

Its biography says it is a ‘fan account for the legend that is Gerald Cooper’.  

Gerald has caused such a stir amongst viewers that he already has his own fan account on Twitter where people can post their favourite clips of him from the show

Clarkson’s right-hand women: From the shepherdess who can down a pint in 11 seconds to the glamorous farming pro left pulling her hair out over star’s Lamborghini tractor on hit Amazon show

While Jeremy Clarkson might hog the limelight in his new Amazon farming show, two of his right-hand women have also become overnight stars.

Ellen Helliwell and Georgia Craig have emerged as fan favourites, due to their no-nonsense attitude and refusal to coddle the celebrity.

Ms Helliwell, a shepherdess and stockman, and was brought onto the series to help Clarkson during lambing.

It had been intended she would have a more hands on role, but Covid restrictions meant he had to do it himself on the Cotswolds grounds.

Meanwhile Ms Craig, who is an NFU representative, was seen exasperated as she tried to give him a tractor driving lesson.

The pair’s appearances have gone down a storm with fans but they both have important backgrounds behind the camera. 

Ellen Helliwell, a shepherdess and stockman, and was brought on to help Clarkson do lambing

Ms Craig, an NFU rep, was seen exasperated as she tried to give him a tractor driving lesson

Jeremy Clarkson’s new Amazon farming show has been a huge hit with viewers in the UK

Ms Helliwell is a young ambassador of the National Sheep Association and grew up on her parents’ farm in Derbyshire.

She entered the Young Shepherd of the Year competition at the NSA Central Region Winter Fair in 2013 and scooped the top prize.

The shepherdess has also spent time farming in Australia and a bit closer to home in Wales. 

She also was featured on BBC show Countryfile shearing a sheep. 

In February she spoke to the Pub Yields podcast about her role and history in the industry as well as nights out with the NSA.

Ms Helliwell said: ‘I remember one night, I can’t remember where we were and me and my friend Hannah were proper game for getting on it and you lot all p***** off to bed. 

Georgia Clarke seemed bewildered by Jeremy Clarkson’s choice of tractor in the show

Source: Daily Mail

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