Jeremy Clarkson has cut a deal with a local farmer to turn a nearby field into an overflow car park for his new Cotswolds pub in a move which could earn them both hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The arrangement sees Clarkson pay a nominal monthly rent to use the 34-acre field over the road from his new pub, The Farmer’s Dog, from a local farmer based in the nearby hamlet of Asthall near Burford.
The deal Clarkson has struck sees himself and the field’s owners – Edward and Patricia Walker – both earn an attractive kick-back by also pocketing equal half shares of every £2 parking fee charged to every car.
Mrs Walker told MailOnline that Clarkson had been ‘very shrewd actually’ in negotiating the arrangement where she described the parking returns as being divided ‘half and half’ between themselves and Mr Clarkson.
MailOnline has learned that the deal was done just hours before the pub’s fanfare opening last Friday which saw hundreds of cars pour into it the field after the pub’s own car park filled to the brim in the first hour after the pub opened.
Jeremy Clarkson has cut a deal with a local farmer to turn a nearby field (pictured) into an overflow car park for his new Cotswolds pub
The owner of the field told MailOnline that Clarkson had been ‘very shrewd actually’ in negotiating the arrangement where she described the parking returns as being divided ‘half and half’ between themselves and Mr Clarkson
The deal Clarkson has struck sees himself and the field’s owners – Edward and Patricia Walker – both earn an attractive kick-back by also pocketing equal half shares of every £2 parking fee charged to every car
The deal comes after the pub opened last Friday which saw hundreds of cars pour into it the field after the pub’s own car park (pictured) filled to the brim in the first hour after the pub opened
The overflow field runs along the A40 Burford Road and has a capacity of around 2,000 cars, according to the parking attendants working there. But studies show a 34-acre field could in fact have more than 5,000 cars in it.
This means that even if it fills to just half of its claimed 2,000 capacity (1,000 cars) and even if customers turn around only every four hours throughout the day (so that 3,000 cars visit every day), both Clarkson and the Walkers will pocket £1,500 a day each just from parking fees from pub customers.
This is taking into account that Clarkson’s four other food and drink businesses based in a new 5,000 sq ft marquee alongside the pub open at 9.30am and the pub does not close until much later on – 11pm or later.
The overflow car park is open between 7.30am until 8.30pm. If the car park fills to half capacity every day, that equates to a whopping £547,000 a year in parking fees earned by both Clarkson and also the Walkers.
Drivers using the field might be a little surprised by the revelation that both Clarkson and the farmer who owns the field are earning equal amounts from the overflow parking fee returns.
The signage on clear display on both sides of the overflow carpark entrance as drivers enter states: ‘Parking: £2. The profit goes to the farmer for the kind use of his field where he’s now not growing anything.’
The signs appear to infer at first glance that the parking money is only going to the farmer and not at all to Clarkson.
A bird’s eye view map showing the location of Clarkson’s pub on the left and the new car park on the lower right
The overflow field runs along the A40 Burford Road and has a capacity of around 2,000 cars, according to the parking attendants working there
The overflow car park is open between 7.30am until 8.30pm. If the car park fills to half capacity every day, that equates to a whopping £547,000 a year in parking fees earned by both Clarkson and also the owners of the field
The signage on clear display on both sides of the overflow carpark entrance as drivers enter states: ‘Parking: £2. The profit goes to the farmer for the kind use of his field where he’s now not growing anything’
People queuing outside Jeremy Clarkson’s new pub, The Farmer’s Dog, for its opening day
People were queueing for up to 90 minutes to get into The Farmer’s Dog in the Cotswolds on its second day on August 24
The Grand Tour presenter pictured pouring £6 pints
Some arrived in expensive cars, including Aston Martins and Ferraris to get a glimpse of the TV star turned publican
The Farmer’s Dog is located next to Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm shop in the Cotswolds
Visitors queue up in the rain to get a glimpse of the former Top Gear presenter and to try his exclusively British menu
Oxfordshire County Council has previously spoken out against Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm Shop causing parking chaos
In the past people have taken to parking on the verges outside Diddly Squat Farm Shop due to a lack in parking. Pictured on March 17, 2023
A police van had to be parked up outside the idyllic Cotswolds farm earlier this year amid some vehicles being told they wouldn’t be able to enter an already packed car park
Hundreds of drivers polled in an online survey on the pub’s website on Tuesday, August 27, certainly seemed to think that was the case too.
But the key word here seems to be ‘profit’ which might suggest that Clarkson is not intending to make a profit from his half, just investing it back in the business to cover costs.
Some drivers were witnessed complaining about having to pay the charge on bank holiday Monday. One was overheard saying: ‘Two pounds to park at a pub? Outrageous!’ To which the parking attendant replied: ‘The money goes to the farmer, not to Jeremy.’
Asked by MailOnline to clarify where the money for the parking was going, a parking attendant at the field at 3pm on Bank Holiday Monday said: ‘There’s a farm across the road. The pub is using this (the field).
‘The farm across the road owns this (the field). So the two quid goes towards them (the farmer who owns the field)’.’
Asked to clarify: ‘To the farm?’. The attendant replied: ‘Yes I think so.’
Clarkson holds girlfriend Lisa Hogan’s hand amid the chaos of opening day at The Farmer’s Dog in Asthall, Oxfordshire, on August 23
People wait to be served at Clarkson’s pub on its opening day
The exterior of the The Farmer’s Dog, set in a picturesque spot where Clarkson purchased the Windmill pub for just under £1million two months ago
The new car park will allow thousands of customers to make a journey to the pub
Asked whether he was told to say that to drivers, the attendant said: ‘I haven’t been told to say anything. I’ve heard it from my supervisor. Ideally you wouldn’t have to pay anything at all.’
There was a poll on the pub’s Facebook page on Tuesday asking the general question: ‘What does everyone think about the £2 parking charge in the overflow ‘field’ car park at the Farmer’s Dog?’.
Respondents chose their own options and were encouraged to comment. Some 143 drivers responded within an hour and made various comments before comments were mysteriously removed from the pub’s Facebook page.
Some 41 per cent of all drivers poll responded they were happy to pay ‘Only if it’s going to charity/farmers’.
Seven per cent voted for: ‘It’s going to the farmer who owns the field! It’s great!!!’
Some 44 per cent voted for ‘Pay it, deal with it’. Six per cent voted for ‘Free parking for paying customers’.
Visitors to The Farmer’s Dog brave the pouring rain as they queue outside Clarkson’s new pub
The pub features an outdoor terrace, for diners only and benches on the lawn
Among the respondents, Jude Harvey Moon wrote: ‘The farmer is renting out the field to Clarkson to assist in traffic control and alleviate congestion and thus a win win for the Farmer so I really don’t think this is a constructive poll without knowing the facts.’
Kim Wing wrote: ‘I would imagine the farmer will charge for use and upkeep so it’s fair.’
Marc Rochford wrote: ‘Being that the field belongs to a farmer who can’t use it for crops or for livestock then it is more than fair and come on £2 when in most car parks in most towns and cities £2 may get you 1hr parking.’
Heena J Parmar wrote: ‘I think it might be a good idea as the place is attracting a lot of footfall therefore the money can be reinvested in maintaining the car pack and its surroundings.’
Theodora Cochrane wrote: ‘Of course you should pay.. the farmer can’t use land you’re parked on. No farmer is a charity although too many people seem to think they are.’
Mark Stephenson wrote: ‘ The pub’s subsidised by Amazon. Ask them to pay the farmer.’
The TV star said he hoped to make a success of The Farmer’s Dog but added using only British produce meant that profit margins would be much lower. He said using pork from his Diddly Squat farm would cost 0.74p to turn into sausage to be sold at the pub
Clarkson opening his pub on its first day on August 23. The TV host was followed around by film crews as he launched his newest venture
A board placed outside The Farmer’s Dog stressed that everything served and sold at Clarkson’s pub is produced in Britain
One of his shop’s most popular items was a candle in a tin with the less than flattering name of ‘This smells like B******ks’. Each candle
Customers could buy Diddly Squart Farm exfoliating hand soap for £6.80 or a mushroom growkit
While 1,000 cars using the overflow car park (with just half the 34-acre field filled) every day does sound like a lot, it is entirely possible considering the projected popularity of the pub and its four associated food and drink outlets in an adjoining marquee, which saw people queuing for more than five hours just to get in on day one.
The popularity of the first Diddly Squat Farm Shop in nearby Chadlington (the Farmer’s Dog opened the second one last Friday), has been enormous.
Fans of Amazon Prime’s hit series Clarkson’s Farm make pilgrimages from around the world to get there, often queuing for three hours just to buy merchandise, beer and cider, and farm produce from what remains just a very small basic shop in a field.
It has been so popular at Chadlington that the narrow rural roads around it quickly became gridlocked, and Clarkson had numerous run-ins with council planners over turning the surrounding fields there into overflow carparks to stop drivers abandoning their cars haphazardly on roadsides for miles around.
Currently the Chadlington farm shop still attracts long queues every day with one carpark and two overflow car parks in surrounding fields.
Still drivers can’t fit in the car parks and from time to time park on the roadside verges for hundreds of meters in every direction.
The menu at The Farmer’s dog includes chicken liver pate on toast, steak pie or the ‘sausage of the day’ with mash. Desserts include apple crumble or strawberry meringue
At The Farmer’s Dog on its first day last Friday, the first customers arrived at 7.20am – almost five hours before the pub actually opened.
The pub’s own car park was full a little over an hour later. And by the time the pub actually opened shortly after 12 noon, between a third and a half of the 34-acre overflow car park appeared to be full.
The pub may receive a boost in trade if it appears, as expected, in the next series of Amazon’s Clarkson’s Farm.
That would be great news for Clarkson – and also owners of The Farmer’s Dog’s overflow carpark Edward and Patricia Walker.
MailOnline tracked down the Mr and Mrs Walker who live in the local hamlet of Asthall just half a mile from the popular new pub.
Patricia said: ‘We were concerned about the traffic but we were up there today and noticed that there were quite a few cars in the field that we have leased out to Jeremy.
‘There were a lot of cars there. We were quite impressed as they had a lot of security on the gates. They weren’t letting people just park on the roadside. At the moment I think they are doing quite a good job controlling the traffic and everything’
‘We are right down in Asthall and I was amazed how many people have gone. I just wondered if they were going to run out of food or beer. I think at the moment they seem to be controlling the traffic which was our main concern.’
Asked where each £2 went – to them as landowners or to Clarkson and the pub, Patricia Walker said: ‘Half and half’, meaning half goes to the Walkers and half goes to Clarkson.
Mrs Walker added: ‘He (Clarkson) is very shrewd actually – yes, yes, yes’.
Mrs Walker confirmed Clarkson was leasing the field for a monthly rent but added she would ‘rather not say’ how much for.
She added: ‘Initially the lease is for 28 days (before an extension is negotiated). They drew up the lease the day before the pub opened’.
Patricia’s husband Edward Walker added that they struck a deal with Clarkson primarily to avoid danger to the public and locals of people parking haphazardly by the roadsides.
A sign stating the car park at Diddly Squat Farm Shop is full on March 17, 2023. Clarkson has previously tried to expand the car park but has been refused permission
Pictures from July show vehicles left dumped at the side of the road, with the site’s car parks having overflowed
Asked about the monthly fee Clarkson was paying them to lease the field, Mr Walker said: ‘It’s nobody’s business how much Mr Clarkson is paying us to lease the field. It’s up to you to estimate but I won’t comment on that.’
According to Farmer’s Weekly’s website’s interactive map the average price to lease an acre of land for a year in Oxfordshire is about £75.
This rate would mean the 34-acre field would cost much more than £220 for the initial 28 days.
Mr Walker added: ‘The reason we let him have it (the field) for parking is that we didn’t want the same situation that was happening at Chadlington (the first Diddly Squat Farm Shop next to Clarkson’s actual farm).
‘There is not much room to park on the side of the road between the pub and us at Asthall. So really it (the lease) was to help him out and also to avoid all that congestion.’
Mr Walker went on: ‘At the moment the lease is for just 28 days as that is all we are allowed to do it for without getting full planning permission on it. Nobody knew how it was going to go and how many people were going to turn up.
‘So it’s just an arrangement to park in there rather than all over the roadside. But we don’t know if it is going to be busy all the time.
‘We were told this week would be very busy for a little while, and that things might die down for a while.
Neighbours have complained about traffic chaos caused by the farm shop’s popularity in the past. Pictured taken on December 2021
‘Then when the new programme (Clarkson’s Farm 4) comes out next Spring it’ll probably boost up again. These things come and go and people lose interest in the end don’t they.’
Mr Walker added: ‘He (Clarkson) has certainly done a lot for farming with the farming programme. It’s made people aware of it.
‘I was reading today in Farmer’s Weekly that the number of students applying to study agriculture and all the associated industries has gone up a lot.’
Considering how successful the overflow parking field has been reducing road congestion problems in its first few days, it seems likely that Oxfordshire County Council and West Oxfordshire District Council – who have been extremely helpful to Clarkson in the weeks before the pub opened – would agree to planning for it to be a permanent arrangement.
Last week, a spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council told MailOnline how they had instigated – and indeed paid for – a wide range of measures to help Clarkson out.
He said: ‘It is widely recognised that there is likely to be significant interest in the pub under its new management.
‘Taking experience from the high volume of visitors to the nearby Diddly Squat Farm Shop at Chadlington, the council has taken proactive measures to improve the safe provision for pedestrians, and to improve existing bus stop infrastructure to hopefully provide a more viable and attractive alternative, at least for some visitors, to using the car, whilst also seeking to deter inconsiderate parking.’
The spokesman went on: ‘The county council has met with Mr Clarkson and his team who have been keen to avoid traffic related problems arising from the operation of their site.
‘This highway work is complemented by Mr Clarkson’s team’s own off-highway measures to ensure the opening of the site is not only successful, but importantly as safe as possible.’
