Jeremy Clarkson has opened a restaurant at his Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds, having located a “cunning little loophole” to circumvent the local council’s refusal to grant him planning permission.

Almost all the restaurant’s 40 seats are outdoors, the toilets are a long walk (or tractor/quad-bike ride) away, there are no vegetarian options and diners have to sign a form consenting to appear in Clarkson’s Amazon Prime TV show. The £69 set meal – from chef Pip Lacey of Hicce – offers only beef from the farm’s herd, with the cut a lucky dip.

Clarkson said: “I am told 1,000 people can eat from one cow and we have had one hanging for 29 days. Some people are going to get oxtail, some tongue and some will get fillet steak.“

The petrol-head TV presenter and columnist has waged a running battle with West Oxfordshire district council since his 2020 launch of a farm shop, managed by his girlfriend Lisa Hogan (pictured), as part of his heavily documented attempts to make money out of farming. Neighbours in the village of Chadlington, near Chipping Norton, have complained about the volume of traffic caused by visiting fans.

Clarkson explained his latest ruse to the Sunday Times: “It’s a weight off my shoulders and it appeals to my anti-establishment bent. You can write to your council and inform them that you are changing a barn’s use, it’s called permitted development . . . We happen to have a barn which met every single one of the criteria. You have to prove it’s a viable business. We sent the council an email on Wednesday night and on Thursday it was like something from Challenge Anneka to get it ready.”