Jeremy Clarkson has bought a pub 10 miles from his Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, which he plans to open later this year to sell his own produce and beer.

Announcing the move in his Sunday Times column, the petrol-head-turned-farmer said he had bought The Windmill, a pub and wedding venue on five acres near Burford in Oxfordshire, for “less than £1 million“.

It will open under a different name – as yet undisclosed – after extensive refurbishment, with Jeremy saying “the cellar is too small, the gable end is falling down, the outside decking area is dangerous, the water is unfit for human consumption, the loft is full of dead rats and the lavatories are illegal.“

The move follows last year’s saga of the barn restaurant on Diddly Squat Farm, which caused traffic jams in the village and was eventually closed down by West Oxfordshire district council on the grounds that it did not have planning permission..

“But I still wanted somewhere where I could sell all that we make here. And my own beer in the taps too. I also wanted a room I could turn into a clubhouse, which, on wet weekdays, would provide a mental health forum and a free pint for the nation’s farmers. I wanted dogs and families round the fire. And a restaurant where absolutely everything had been grown or reared in Britain. Even the salt, pepper and wine. I had even decided there’d be no coffee or Coca-Cola.“

Jeremy brushed aside the commonly held view that “the pub business is dying… you would have to be mad to buy one. Insane.” His answer was that fun was in short supply, so he would bring back bar billiards, darts and Aunt Sally – “even though I’m not entirely certain what Aunt Sally is.”

What he did not mention was that, unlike the vast majority of publicans, he has the clout of media fame which – judging from what happened on Diddly Squat farm – will pull in the crowds when he opens.