Jeremy Clarkson is reportedly being sued by a woman who suffered a serious injury after falling in the car park of his Farmer’s Dog pub.
Elizabeth Palmby, 68, says she broke her ribs and sliced her hand open after tripping on “razor sharp” temporary metal covers that had been placed over the muddy ground at the Oxfordshire pub.
She is seeking compensation after having surgery to remove metal fragments from the covers that were embedded in her hand and was left with a “horrible” jagged scar.
Ms Palmby, who is from Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, had visited Diddly Squat Farm and the nearby pub in November after seeing them featured in the Amazon series, Clarkson’s Farm.
“I know Jeremy is a perfectionist and the pub itself was perfect and the staff were great, but the carpark was a total disaster,” the NHS worker said.
“It is very dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. I am probably scarred for life.”
She said the car park of the Asthall venue was covered in mud after heavy rain overnight and that large metal sheets had been placed over it.
Ms Palmby was walking back to her car when she tripped over one of the upturned sheets and “fell flat”, “badly banging” her knee.
“It was really scary as then I was struggling to breathe and was in incredible pain. I knew I had done some damage then and had to go to hospital,” she recalled.
She reported the accident to staff at the car park and her husband, a former ambulance worker, rushed her to hospital where she was given an X-ray on her hand and knee.
Ms Palmsby said once the mud was cleared away from her hand, she saw a “gaping open and jagged ugly wound,” stating: “It was horrible and very painful.”
The nurse is believed to have placed steri strips over the cut as she said normal stitches would reopen.
Ms Palmsby and her husband returned to the Farmer’s Dog to fill in the accident book and were given a complimentary meal.
When they returned home, doctors said she needed surgery to have the metal fragments taken out of her hand. Plastic surgeons spent hours reconstructing the wound, using ten stitches to close the deep gash.
She was also suffering from shortness of breath so had a chest X-ray, which revealed she had broken ribs.
Ms Palmsby and her husband later returned to the pub to see if there were safety measures now in place, but claimed nothing had changed.
She said she couldn’t “forgive herself” if an elderly person or a child was injured on the metal covers, knowing she could have alerted them to it.
Ms Palmsby says she contacted Clarkson via email over the dangers of the car park but received no reply.
She has since contacted accident specialists Express Solicitors and started a legal claim for compensation.
The Standard has contacted Clarkson’s representative for comment.
Clarkson has applied for planning permission to install a permanent hard surface to the car park, which has been approved by West Oxfordshire District Council.
However, work cannot begin until a “detailed” surface water drainage scheme is submitted and approved in the next few months.
Until then, the metal sheets will continue to be used.
The alleged incident comes after Clarkson opened up about the difficulties of running The Farmer’s Dog, which he bought in 2024 and reopened last summer after renovation.
He said he’s in a “bleak situation” due to Labour’s raising of business rates, a woe he’s shared with fellow celebrity pub owner Tom Kerridge.
Clarkson wrote in The Sunday Times: “The chef Tom Kerridge said the rates on his burger joint in Marlow would go up from £50,000 a year to £124,000. 'What's the point in being open?' he asks reasonably.
“At my pub, the Farmer's Dog, things aren't quite that bleak but they're still pretty terrible.
“The rateable value would shoot up from £27,250 to £55,000 and when you factor in the national insurance rise, which has upped our wage bill by £42,000 a year, we'd be up a gum tree.
“Because how can you pass this on to customers when they have a £2billion gas bill to pay and they can't get there anyway because of the new drink driving rules.”
