Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop has said it will have to close for a couple of months after the council stepped in.
Fans eager to make a trip to the farm shop, which features in the popular Amazon show Clarkson's Farm, have until 31 December to do so, after that it’ll be closed throughout January and February.
In a post on Instagram, the farm’s official account wrote: “Diddly Squat Farm Shop open 9.30-4pm until 31st December. Closed January & February.”
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In response to a comment from a fan, the account explained it would be closing so some work could be carried out on the roof.
They wrote: “Council insisted we change the roof. Closed for building work.”
Clarkson was reportedly given the news earlier this year, after the local council told him the materials used to build the roof were not allowed.
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Permission to build the farm shop was originally given on the understanding that any materials used for the roof would need to be approved before work began.
But a building contractor was seemingly unaware of this and used a green metal sheet roof, which had not had the proper approval.
The council wanted slate to be used on the roof, and an attempt by Clarkson to overturn this failed, the Daily Mail reported back in April.
A source from the West Oxfordshire Council told MailOnline: “As the application has been refused he will have to change it.”
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Writing in an article for The Times in March, Clarkson opened up about the struggles he’d faced to get the shop up and running, writing: “My shop had only been open a few days when we received a stern letter warning us that our rather lovely ice cream had been made from the juice of cows that lived eight miles away, in Gloucestershire, and that this contravened a clause that said that we could only sell produce from West Oxfordshire.
“Since then we’ve been told that the roof is the wrong colour, that the sign is 0.3 of a metre too wide, that we aren’t allowed to sell teas and coffees, that the gingham covering on the straw bales contravenes Covid regulations, that the car park is a road safety hazard, that the sausage rolls are wrong in some unfathomable way, and that if we were allowed to sell beer, yobbos would come and urinate in the graveyard.”
And in article in June, Clarkson confirmed he would be closing up shop ‘in the winter’.
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He said: “The bees worked hard and produced a lot of honey and the shop is proving to be something of a success — even though I’ll have to close it down this winter to give it the fake slate roof that the local council likes, instead of the tasteful green roof it has now, which everyone else likes.”
Diddly Squat farm has become a popular tourist attraction, with people travelling from miles around to have a poke around the farm shop.
LADbible has approached West Oxfordshire Council and Diddly Squat Farm for comment.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Jeremy Clarkson, TV and Film