Death threats have been made against two people who opposed Jeremy Clarkson ’s Diddly Squat farm expansions, the local council has revealed.
West Oxfordshire District Council has said it is aware of malicious communications against an unnamed councillor and a member of the public who spoke out against the 62-year-old former Top Gear presenters plans.
The threats after Season 2 of Clarkson’s Farm via Amazon Studios aired on February 10, the council said.
The Planning Inspector is holding a hearing for the TV presenter’s appeal against WODC’s refusal to grant planning permission for an extension to the car park at his shop - which is near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.
The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host is also challenging the council’s move to shut down his restaurant on the same plot of land.
The council has made moves to close down the establishment because Clarkson opened it allegedly without planning permission in July 2022.
West Oxfordshire District Council said they put extra security measures in place for Tuesday’s hearing as a result of the threats.
The council said in a statement: “Unfortunately we have had to take safety precautions following a number of threats and abuse directed at councillors and local people since the airing of Season 2 of Clarkson’s Farm.
“This has included death threats and as a result we have had to consider a range of safety measures to protect councillors, staff and residents.
“We understand people may not agree with decisions taken by the council but there is no place for threatening or abusive behaviour.
“It damages the democratic process when people feel intimidated and do not feel safe to express the opinions they are entitled to.”
WODC took action against Clarkson’s restaurant in August.
At the time, they said in its enforcement notice that the “nature, scale and siting” of the restaurant on his farm was “incompatible with its open countryside location” in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
It ordered closure of the restaurant or any other establishment selling food that will be consumed on the farm - along with removal of the dining tables, chairs, parasols, picnic tables, and mobile toilet.
Agents working on behalf of Clarkson say they are not in breach of planning laws, claiming that the council’s decision is “excessive”.
The John Phillips Planning Consultancy (JPPC) wrote in their appeal against the enforcement notice that existing planning permission gives them the right to use the farm as a restaurant, and there has been no “material change” to the land.
WODC’s lawyers argued that the “level of use of the site” has “significantly increased” due to the restaurant, and the land is “now used for a mix of purposes which go well beyond that of a farm shop”.
The council has said that due to these reasons, the current planning permission “could never apply” to the new enterprises on the site.
A final decision on the plans will be published in the coming weeks.
