Body cameras for Jeremy Clarkson’s farm staff to record abuse

Disgruntled local residents trying to get Jeremy Clarkson’s farm shop closed down have subjected his workers to ‘extremely aggressive’ abuse.

Jeremy Clarksonat his farm Diddly Squat. Picture: Amazon

Workers at Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm have been kitted out with body-worn cameras after disgruntled local residents subjected them to abuse.

Villagers voiced their views on the last day of a planning hearing to consider proposals by the broadcaster to extend the car park on his farm in west Oxfordshire to accommodate 70 vehicles. Residents described it both as a menace and a success for local people.

Clarkson, 62, bought the 1,000-acre farm in 2008 and began managing the land when a tenant farmer retired in 2019.

Clarkson’s Farm, an Amazon Prime television series, has been widely praised for raising awareness about the state of farming. It has a cult following, with thousands flocking to visit and buy milk, rapeseed oil and jams, resulting in complaints from local residents.

West Oxfordshire district council (WODC) rejected Clarkson’s expansion plans last year, saying they would encourage more visitors to the farm between Chadlington and Chipping Norton, adding to traffic problems and disturbing the Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty.

At yesterday’s appeal hearing, Annabel Gray, 32, who works on a catering trailer at Diddly Squat, said: “I have witnessed the behaviour of locals. The shop has been forced to put body cameras on employees, 16 to 18-year-olds, because of the way they were being spoken to.”

Clarkson said: “Some people have got it into their heads that there’s hundreds of locals who furiously object to the farm shop but there’s really only half a dozen really touchy ones and four mildly touchy ones. Two people are extremely aggressive so we were worried about the safety of our younger employees because a lot of kids work there and they are extremely abusive and extremely unpleasant people so we just made sure our guys are safe. They want to close the farm shop down and they think that by abusing the staff they’ll be all snowflakey.”

Two opponents of Clarkson’s plans had received death threats. The local authority said a councillor and a member of the public were the subject of malicious communications for speaking out against his proposals. At least one of the threats has been reported to Thames Valley police.

Jeremy Clarkson with his Lamborghini tractor on his farm. Picture: Emily Clarkson.

Hilary Moore, who lives in Chadlington, had described tourists visiting the farm as “motorheads” who drove slowly on surrounding roads to “show off their cars”.

Gray said Moore’s description was unfair, adding that she had “witnessed local people” adding to traffic problems by driving too slowly.

Gray, a farmer’s daughter, said the farm shop provided an important education for visitors: “Jeremy’s following do not have that great a knowledge about farming – I have had to explain to people that beef burgers come from a cow – and they travel long distances with the hope they might see him, but also to experience farming they have seen on TV.”

She added: “This is a massive, massive opportunity for WODC. I am begging you that this is something that can be improved on rather than turn your back on.”

The council has argued that the car park expansion indicates a change in use for the land from being for a shop to being for “leisure activities”. Richard Kimblin KC, Clarkson’s lawyer, said the extra parking reflected demand for the shop because of its “remarkable success in selling farm goods”.

The council’s lawyer said if Clarkson’s business were operating as a farm shop only, visitors would stay for only about five minutes” to buy their goods, so space for up to 70 vehicles was “too big”.

A planning inspector’s decision on the appeal is expected within weeks.

The Times