Hunt saboteurs reported Jeremy Clarkson to the police over allegations he filled in badger setts on Diddly Squat Farm – but the TV presenter-turned-farmer has denied doing so, claiming he shot all of the animals instead.
The former Top Gear presenter turned Amazon Prime Video darling was visited by Thames Valley Police officers after activists from the Cotswold Hunt Sabs reported blocked setts on his land near Chadlington, Oxfordshire.
Under UK wildlife law it is illegal to damage, destroy, block or disturb badger setts; hunt saboteurs claim to have found hideaways blocked with rocks in the area of Diddly Squat, so named because Clarkson claims that’s how much he makes from it.
Writing in his Sun column earlier this month, Clarkson said he told the police who came out to visit him that he had no reason to fill in the setts – because he shot all the badgers instead, seemingly under licence.
The Grand Tour host – most recently seen in Grand Tour special Sand Job – wrote: ‚Mercifully, however, I had the perfect excuse: „I’ve shot all the badgers on the farm so why would I want to fill in their setts?“ And yes, before you ask, it was all legal.‘
Jeremy Clarkson was seen discussing the badger problems on his farm in an episode of Clarkson’s Farm
Badgers and their setts are protected by UK wildlife legislation, but culls can be carried out under special licence to curtail the spread of bovine TB
The Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs claimed to have found evidence of badger setts being filled in on Clarkson’s land – there is no suggestion that Clarkson himself filled in the setts
The Hunt Saboteurs Association criticised Clarkson’s comments in his Sun column, claiming: site ‚It’s a bit sad how desperate he is to be liked by his farmer buddies‘
Hunt saboteurs claimed to have found filled in setts on the land of Diddly Squat Farm (pictured: the entrance to the farm shop near Chadlington, Oxfordshire)
Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm has documented the presenter’s attempts to get his agricultural enterprise off the ground, helped by veteran farmer Kaleb Cooper (pictured)
Activist Lynn Sawyer, of the Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs, said activists targeted Clarkson because he has previously allowed fox hunts to take place on his land. However, there is no suggestion that Clarkson himself filled in the setts.
She told the Telegraph: ‚He may not have known it had been done. We are not picking on Clarkson. Instead we are trying to protect badgers from being persecuted and killed. We do not discriminate.‘
She added that hunts may deliberately block badger setts to eliminate escape routes for foxes. However, doing so is a criminal offence because it can trap badgers.