Unhappy homeowners in trendy Chipping Norton have accused celebrities of wrecking their Cotswolds idyll – as they go to battle against plans for 350 new homes.
The country town has become a magnet for tourists after the arrival of high-profile figures such as former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, ex-England captain Sir David Beckham, Lord Cameron and Kate Moss.
The portrayal of picturesque rural life in TV show Clarkson’s Farm has been highlighted as helping to drive demand for housing while putting a strain on local infrastructure and public services.
A new proposed development involving 350 homes comes close to Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm and has sparked a backlash from locals saying patience is running thin.
Long-term residents have claimed that while Chipping Norton might suggest the promise of a glamorous lifestyle, the reality of living there can be starkly different.
And while some fans of Clarkson’s Amazon Prime Video series say they were attracted to moving to the area because of it, some admit they are now regretting their decisions – with complaints that ‘there is literally nothing to do’.
Jane Hancox and Clare Webb, twin sisters born and raised in Chipping Norton, called the latest housing project an example of overdevelopment driven by the area’s newly lofty status.
Ms Webb, 49, who works as a cleaner with her sister, said: ‘I think Clarkson is good in the way he’s bringing money in – but the thing is, the prices are going up.
‘There isn’t the infrastructure to cope with all the new people coming.’
Ms Hancox, 49, said: ‘We have had new houses built up the road from us and all we smell is sewage because the sewers can’t take it.
‘It has got worse over the years with all the houses and people coming through. The roads are not big enough, it has got ridiculous. The traffic is a nightmare. We can’t even get to the doctors.
‘I’ve met people who have come up from London and said it’s more expensive here than there.
‘In our village, the affordable houses were meant to be for people from the village but most have gone to strangers.’
The latest proposed development would see three fields next to the town’s historic cricket club be turned into hundreds of new homes.
Rainier Developments has submitted a scoping report to West Oxfordshire District Council in advance of the potentially 350-home planning application.
Also neighbouring the site is another development, of around 90 homes and infrastructure that was approved by the council in 2023.
This comes after plans to build more than 100 homes outside Chipping Norton were approved in April from developer Gleeson Land’s – despite more than 100 objections.
Among the concerns was an increase in traffic, strain to road and sewage systems and the loss of good agricultural land.
Scott Sumners, 56, a bricklayer born and raised in Chipping Norton, said celebrities like Jeremy Clarkson were ruining the experience of living in the town.
He added: ‘We didn’t have any troubles 20 years ago. There’s still a lot of nice people but there’s so many tourists. It can get a bit rowdy out here on a Saturday night.
‘I was walking my dog across the road one day and I overheard a couple say they had travelled from Scotland to come and see the town. There’s nothing here.’
Mr Sumners said he once met Clarkson at the town’s petrol station and witnessed an altercation with another resident.
He added: ‘A man went up to him and said ‘hello Jeremy’, but he just replied ‘That’s Mr Clarkson to you’.
‘I didn’t like that. There’s no need to be rude.’
Bianca, a resident living near the proposed Rainier development, said she was a big fan of Jeremy Clarkson and had moved to Chipping Norton three weeks after watching Clarkson’s Farm.
She added: ‘I moved here because of Jeremy but I’m probably going back to London. There’s literally nothing here.
‘I feel like I probably didn’t do enough research. I probably should have stayed here in a hotel for a week first to see what it was like.’
Other tourists visiting the town also bemoaned the lack of amenities and things for people to do.
Andy Goodyer, a tourist visiting from South Derbyshire, said: ‘It’s rubbish here – we prefer the Peak District.’
Mr Goodyer, 57, who owns a recycling business, added: ‘There’s millions of tourists coming in, but it’s not because of Jeremy.
‘I think he’s supporting farming in general. I’m sure it’s bringing good economics to the area.’
David Smart, 76, a tourist in Chipping Norton, said he had been disappointed by the attractions available to visitors.
Mr Smart, a retired postman from Northamptonshire, said: ‘We were going to go and see the farm and the pub but apparently you can’t go in.
‘I saw the farm is called Diddly Squat. That about sums it up.’
The fourth season of Clarkson’s Farm hit Amazon Prime Video last month, with viewers introduced to the 65-year-old eponymous star’s new farmhand.
Full-time farmer and nurse Harriet Cowan, 24, stepped in to help the former Top Gear presenter while Kaleb Cooper was away, temporarily, on a nationwide talking tour.