Jeremy Clarkson slams barn critics in latest farm row
Jeremy Clarkson has hit out at critics who have called for him to use shipping containers to grow his farm produce.
The 63-year-old ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ presenter said he would never agree to their demand for him to use the crates instead of building a barn – the cost of which they say he should donate to the local community.
He said in his column for The Sunday Times: “I want to build a small stone barn so that I can grow mushrooms. But everyone is frowning and saying I should give the money this would cost to hard-working families in the community, and use a shipping container instead. But I won’t.
“Mainly because I’m running out of the damn things. We have one at the farm shop which is used for storage and one lying round in a field that’s used to house chemicals and two more which are welded together to create a farm kitchen. Honestly, my yard looks like the foyer at Maersk’s world headquarters.
“And I’m not alone. Every time you are outside a city centre railway station or on a Cornish coastal path, and you fancy a cup full of piping hot Israeli free peace coffee, and a vegan whelk, the man with the tattoo and the George Galloway T-shirt who serves it to you will be standing in a shipping container that he’s painted in all the colours of the rainbow.”
Former ‘Top Gear’ host Jeremy is also at war with his local council after he revealed his plans to build a restaurant on his ‘Diddly Squat’ farm in the Cotswolds, but admitted the situation was somewhat manufactured after realising it would make good television.
He said in his column for The Sun: “After the first series of ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ aired, I went for lunch with a farmer friend who said, ‘If you want a storyline for the next series, try getting planning permission for something.’
“I was a bit puzzled and asked what he meant by ‘something’. ‘Anything,’ he replied. ‘It doesn’t matter. Because I guarantee you’ll be turned down.’
“Oh, how right he was. I came home and asked for planning permission to turn a building that was already there into a restaurant.
“A restaurant that would serve the beef, lamb, beer and potatoes that we grow on the farm. And it was like I’d asked for permission to build Studio 54.”
