Jeremy Clarkson has been very open about the absolute hell he went through to get his pub the Farmer's Dog on its feet, and he's now facing legal action after a visitor says she's been left 'scarred for life' following an accident there.
The most recent season of Clarkson’s Farm was focused almost entirely on him working to set up the pub and, even though viewers knew he’d technically be successful, many were shocked by just how much went wrong.
Between potential places for the venue being historical sites for dogging, staff quitting within the first two days, and just about everything else you could predict to go wrong, he really showed how difficult it is to open or run a pub.
Now Clarkson faces yet another challenge after a woman announced she was suing the former Grand Tour presenter after suffering ‘serious injuries’.
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Elizabeth Palmby, 68, revealed that she had travelled over three hours to visit the pub as a ‘massive’ fan of the TV presenter, but left with broken ribs, shrapnel in her hand, and a ‘horrible’ jagged scar after falling in the car park of the Farmer’s Dog.
The 68-year-old NHS worker later had to have metal fragments from the car park removed from her hand by a surgeon.
'An accident waiting to happen'
Elizabeth, of Scunthorpe, said: “It was supposed to be a great fun trip - I really wanted to visit as I enjoyed watching his Amazon show. But it was memorable for all the wrong reasons.”
She stated that whilst she knows Clarkson is a ‘perfectionist’ and praised the pub and staff, she called the car park a ‘total disaster’.
That's because it's still in a field, meaning that rain from the previous night had turned it into a ‘mud bath’, with large metal panels being used to cover puddles.
She added: “The cars were continuous, and you really had to watch out as every time they went over these aluminium sheets that would move and rise up as they weren’t fixed down and it was muddy underneath.
"It is very dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. I am probably scarred for life."
'I was in incredible pain'
Elizabeth had visited the pub for a soft drink and then grabbed some eggs from the on-site Diddly Squat farm shop when she tripped on one of the metal plates in the car park.
She said: “It happened in slow motion - I caught my foot on one of the upturned sheets and my feet went from under me.
"I instinctively threw my hand out to save myself and badly banged my knee. I fell flat landing on the bag carrying the eggs smashing them all.
"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 stated she saw a ‘gaping open and jagged ugly wound’ once the mud was cleaned off, saying the incident was ‘horrible and very painful’.
The 68-year-old added that she later ‘emailed’ the TV presenter and the pub but got no reply.
Planning has been approved by the now infamous local council handling the pub to install a hard surface on the car park, however work cannot begin until a ‘detailed’ surface water drainage scheme is submitted and approved.
She stated however this was not good enough, saying: “It needs fixing now not later as more people could be seriously injured in the meantime.”
Elizabeth later contacted accident specialists Express Solicitors and started a legal claim for compensation.
Accident specialist Jack Klein of Express Solicitors said: “Elizabeth suffered a horrific injury on what should have been a fun day out.
"Celebrities are not above the law, they need to make sure their premises are safe and fit for purpose to protect people visiting their premises inside and out.”
LADbible group has contacted The Farmer’s Dog for comment.
Topics: Jeremy Clarkson, Clarkson's Farm, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin