JEREMY Clarkson has won a planning battle with the local council to extend his Cotswolds pub car park — which ensures its survival.
The star of Clarkson’s Farm on Prime Video has admitted that despite the huge popularity of his Oxfordshire boozer, The Farmer’s Dog, in Asthall, it was a constant battle to make it profitable.
Hundreds of cars arrived at the site every day, but there were limited spaces available.
Then Jezza, 65, took the wise decision to rent out a nearby field, owned by a neighbouring farmer.
The Amazon Prime star applied to West Oxfordshire District Council for retrospective planning permission for the overflow car park to remain for a few years at least.
Jezza desperately needed the car park — which has a 360-vehicle capacity -— to avoid gridlock on the small country lanes and improve facilities since he took over the pub.
Now the local council has agreed and given Jezza the green light to use the land as a car park until 31 December 2029.
The 65-year-old had gone to great lengths to please conservation experts, who raised concerns that a nearby 1,400-year-old ancient burial mound called the Asthall Barrow maybe affected.
In response, Jezza installed thick one-inch aluminium sheets over a 10,000 square foot area to form a hard surface on the six-acre overflow car park, so motors could run over the field smoothly.
Historic England commended the planning application, saying: “Having previously engaged in discussions about the car park and the barrow, we are pleased to see that an application has now been submitted.
“This is a positive step in finalising discussions around parking for the pub.”
Jezza’s planning team stated that the car park was essential, adding: “The Farmer’s Dog started trading just over a year ago and has proven to be very popular.
“There is parking on site, but in order to deal with the level of demand alternative arrangements were made to ensure the safe movement of vehicles and people to and from the site.”He bought the pub — previously called The Windmill — in 2023 after offering the owner £1million for it minutes after meeting her, which is on five acres of land.
A year after taking over, Jezza admitted that, despite the pub’s fame which saw fans flocking, it was still “nigh-on impossible” to make a profit.
He said in his Times column in December 2024:
“The theft, for example, is extraordinary. People seem to have it in their heads that if they come in for a pint they are entitled to go home with the glass in which it was served.
“Last Sunday 104 went missing. And that cost must be added to the £100 a day we spend on fuel for the generator, the £400 a week it costs to provide warmth on the terrace and the £27,000 a month we must spend on parking and traffic marshals to keep the council off our back.”
He continued: “It’s galling to see how much effort is required to make so little money on the farm. It’s worse at the pub.
“The customers are coming. There’s no problem there. But turning their visits into a profit is nigh-on impossible.”
