Clarkson’s Farm: Reason Behind Diddly Squat Shop Closure Revealed
After the council ordered mandatory renovation work at the location, The Grand Tour presenter Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that the shop on Diddly Squat Farm would have to close for a minimum of two months after the new year.
Fans of the farming show Clarkson’s Farm, which aired earlier this year to huge praise, will have to get their Clarkson’s Farm fix before the new year as the shop will close on January 1st. The announcement was made on the Diddly Squat Instagram account not long ago, but now the reason behind this has been revealed.
The post from its official account said the following: “Diddly Squat Farm Shop open 9.30-4pm until 31st December. Closed January & February.”
Fans questioned the reason behind the temporary closing, and eventually someone behind the account responded with a short reply:
“Council insisted we change the roof. Closed for building work’”
According to reports, the local council informed Jeremy that the materials used to construct the roof were not permitted and had to be replaced.
The council permitted the construction of the farm shop on the condition that any materials used in its building had to be approved by the council itself. Unfortunately, the contractor which built the show was unaware of this, using a huge green metal sheet for the roof. This was not approved by the council, which wants the roof to be made of slate instead.
The ex-Top Gear presenter tried to appeal this in April earlier this year, but he had no luck, telling the MailOnline: “As the application has been refused he will have to change it.”
He discussed the issues he’d had in a column:
“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.”