09 March 2023 , 10:53
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Jeremy Clarkson has been slammed by council bosses over his 'misleading' portrayal of a planning permission battle in Clarkson’s Farm.
The record-breaking Amazon series follows the Top Gear star as he runs the Diddly Squat Farm in posh Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds.
Series two came out in February and shows tense scenes between Clarkson and Oxfordshire District Council members.
Clarkson is filmed storming out of the meeting when they refuse his request to open a new restaurant and farm track on the site.
Fans of the show took to social media to accuse the ‘pen pushing’ councillors of ‘hating’ Clarkson.
'I queued for an hour to visit Clarkson's farm shop - the burger van was better'
But the council have hit back, claiming the scenes were edited and did not accurately represent what really happened.
Jeremy at his Diddly Squat Farm Shop in the Cotswolds (Amazon Prime)A spokesperson from West Oxfordshire District Council told Mirror Online: “The planning meeting shown in Clarkson’s Farm ran for well over an hour, but was covered in a matter of minutes in the show.
“That meant a lot of discussion from the meeting was missed, including a lot of very relevant legal planning advice and discussion that informed the decision taken by councillors.”
They explained the reason it was refused was because the proposals didn’t meet planning requirements.
Clarkson was also accused of ‘failing to engage’ with the process, which could have helped Diddly Squat Farm’s application.
The statement explained: “Usually for applications like this, a business would speak to us so we can support it ensuring an application is compliant with planning policy.
“We would have been happy to do that in this case, however, Diddly Squat Farm did not engage with us nor follow advice from our planners when pulling together the application.”
Jeremy covers his face during the planning meeting aired on Clarkson's Farm (Amazon Prime)Giving more context on what really went on behind the scenes, the spokesperson continued: "Over recent years, Diddly Squat Farm has had many planning applications approved where they were in line with national and local planning policy.
“Behind the scenes we have worked with the owners and planning agents of Diddy Squat Farm to try and reach a positive outcome where the business can operate within planning laws and policies and help to support other local farmers.
“However we cannot force a business to work with us, and when that is the case we can only judge planning applications on what a business submits.”
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Clarkson's Farm has been a huge success on Amazon Prime and broken viewing records (Instagram)The council said they were happy for filming to take place during the planning meeting as they “operate in a transparent way”.
And despite the meeting being aired on TV, they said they treat all planning applications fairly no matter who makes them.
They added: “Throughout series two of Clarkson’s Farm a lot of information was not included, or appears to have been misleading for viewers, leading to the narrative promoted by the series that the council has a vendetta against Mr Clarkson.
“As with any other planning authority, we have a legal responsibility to make sure that planning laws and policies are followed correctly by everyone to manage development and protect local communities and the environment. This is regardless of who they are and we treat Diddly Squat Farm no differently.”
The local council say they acted fairly in turning down Clarkson's latest application (Amazon Prime)Tory councillor Dean Temple, who voted against the planning permission, said he had received abuse from ‘all over the world’ since the episode aired.
“The response I received can only be described as a cess pit,” he wrote on Twitter.
Clarkson’s spokesperson told MailOnline : “Naturally not every element of filming makes the final edit of the programmes. However, the episode covered both sides of the debate and the outcome of the meeting.”
He has since appealed against the council's ruling on the Diddly Squat Farm restaurant.
The Mirror has contacted Clarkson’s reps for further comment.