Jeremy Clarkson has issued a final message ahead of the opening of his £1 million pub that he reckons some might think 'sounds odd'.
The 64-year-old is set to open his The Farmer's Dog pub today (23 August) on the outskirts of the town of Burford in the village of Asthall.
Lying just 20 minutes away from his beloved Diddly Squat Farm in the heart of the Cotswolds, it marks the latest business expansion for the former Top Gear man.
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With The Farmer's Dog set to open at midday on Friday in time for the August bank holiday weekend, it is expected to be tremendously busy with queues similar to what we've seen at the Diddly Squat Farm Shop on the cards.
And as he gets ready to swing the doors open on the pub, Clarkson took to X (formerly Twitter) to post an honest message about the journey he and his team have been on to get it ready in time for the bank holiday opening.
In posting the message, he mentioned the team at Oxfordshire County Council who he has had to work with closely to make sure regulations are all in order, especially around parking and impact on local roads such as the A40.
It comes as major fears have been raised about the impact the pub will have on local traffic, with one local resident writing: "I do worry about traffic though. I popped by the farm shop at the weekend. It was utter chaos.
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"The massive new car park was rammed as well as a new overflow one they have made in a field across the road. We didn’t stop as the marshals in hi viz told us the queue was over two hours. I’ve been before on a busy day, but this was insane."
With Clarkson traditionally having a somewhat frosty relationship with local politicians, as seen with his back and forths with West Oxfordshire District Council over the farm shop, the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter has taken a different stance with their local government colleagues at the county council.
In the post, Clarkson wrote: "Credit where credit is due. Our new pub opens tomorrow and this might sound odd but I’d like to thank Oxfordshire County Council for all their help.
"We couldn’t have done it so fast without you."
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In early August, county and district councillor Liam Walker posted online that he was 'hugely supportive of Jeremy's work'. But in doing so, Walker encouraged Oxfordshire County Council 'to ensure lessons have been learnt from the farm shop particularly around the problematic verge parking'.
"There is no 'parking row' here. I am merely doing what local residents would expect and working on getting mitigations in place to reduce traffic and parking issues ensuring lessons have been learnt from the farm shop," Walker said in a follow up statement.
"Jeremy has my full support with his next venture, and I want the pub to be a success."
Topics: Clarkson's Farm, Food And Drink, Twitter, Social Media, Politics
Tom Earnshaw