Jeremy Clarkson picked 'worst weekend' to open new pub The Farmer's Dog

Jeremy Clarkson has picked the "worst weekend" to open his new pub The Farmer's Dog, says West Oxfordshire District Council councillor Liam Walker.

The councillor told Yahoo UK: "Bank holiday weekend, couldn’t have picked the worst weekend to do it if I'm completely honest, but you know that's Jeremy, isn't it?" Walker is the Conservative County Councillor for the Hanborough and Minster Lovell Division, as well as the West Oxfordshire District Council councillor for the Hailey, Minster Lovell and Leafield ward.

Filming for Prime Video's incredibly successful Clarkson's Farm series four is underway and the new pub, in Burford village, Oxfordshire, will feature in the farming show. Excitement has been building for months since it was announced former The Grand Tour presenter, 64, had purchased the country pub for less than £1m.

However, councillor Walker has voiced his concerns about the parking and the congestion in the local area when the new pub, in Burford village, Oxfordshire opens its doors on the Bank Holiday weekend. His fears are not unfounded. Initially the opening of Clarkson's farm shop on Diddly Squat Farm angered locals because of the huge queues of people and increased traffic.

Don't annoy the locals Jeremy Clarkson

Walker had some sound advice for the TV presenter ahead of the opening of the pub. "Don't annoy the locals again," he said. "They are not all the red trouser brigade. Respect the locals and they'll support his next venture."

So what is the secret to keeping the local neighbours happy? "Maybe a free Hawkstone beer," he quipped. "I think, just understand the challenges, particularly around the parking and congestion and I think Jeremy does to be fair."

The District Councillor explained why the parking and the congestion is a concern, especially for the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend. "The parking is a concern," he explained. "And also the congestion because of the location. So we've had a lot of issues with the farm shop due to how popular it is really. Every series of Clarkson's Farm that comes out, we see a massive boost to tourism."

He added: "Ultimately, people travelling from across the country. I have been up there a few times and you meet people that have come from Scotland and Wales which is mind blowing. To be honest, they travelled all that way, and obviously they want to spend some money and shop in the local area and visit the local area, which is great for West Oxfordshire.

"But that comes with the caveat with the parking and added congestion. Particularly this location because its right next to a very busy dual carriageway, where it is, right across the A40 from London to Cheltenham. So that's why I've raised it with our highways team to look at what mitigations could be put in place to hopefully learn the lessons from the farm shop."

"We all want the pub to be a success," he added. "It's just respecting the local community and looking at ways to reduce the impact on the new villages and road network." While he won't personally be at the pub opening, he suspects the former Top Gear presenter will be pulling pints will be on the ground while the cameras are rolling for series four of Clarkson's Farm.

He added: "Clarkson's doing a soft opening Bank Holiday weekend which is what he did with the farm shop, where he only had potatoes to sell in that particular series and everyone still flocked to it. So it's going to be interesting and obviously they'll do that for the filming because they've already started filming for the next series and featuring the pub."

Read more: What we know about Jeremy Clarkson’s pub opening this weekend

Plans for The Farmer's Dog pub

Behind the scenes, Clarkson has apparently got a plan in place to resolve any parking concerns as he plans to get a field nearby for parking. Councillor Walker lifted the lid on possible resolutions that Clarkson has been looking at including a booking system with a small fee and a nearby field as well as improving the bus stops.

He said: "So the last I heard his team were looking at a field nearby, which is great because it increases capacity. But obviously you increase capacity and it's just going to increase footfall as well. Personally, I think they need to look at some sort of booking system like any tourist attraction does and charge people a small fee to book.

"I think they're doing that for the restaurant but it's going to be a bit harder for the pub side of the pub. If you just want to go for a beer, that's quite difficult to do that but I suppose people could book tables." Although it is a "big ask" to get people to use public transport to the pub, the councillor said it would help and that the council are supporting Clarkson on "little things" like improving the bus stops.

What happened with the Diddly Squat farm shop?

Clarkson's fight with the council has taken centre stage throughout Prime Video's Clarkson's Farm. One of the long-running disagreements between them has been over the farm shop. In Clarkson's Farm series three, the TV star finally built the car park for the shop after getting the green light from the council.

Councillor Walker said it was all done for the cameras. He said: "The whole farm shop parking fiasco that was on the programme, let's be honest, it was done for good TV and it worked to that effect. Jeremy's Jeremy. He does it in his own particular way. But there are planning rules, and regardless of who you are, I think the council's right to stick by them. It might seem a bit heavy handed, but eventually they did work up a solution and he won his appeal on the car park.

"But the council has an obligation to protect the area from these sorts of things. It's a dangerous precedent otherwise, everyone will start opening farm shops. We get a lot of celebs moving to West Oxfordshire now, so we don't want them all opening farm shops and pubs, it would just be chaos."

Read more: Jeremy Clarkson in tears as he celebrates huge win against council

Jeremy Clarkson has had more impact than Countryfile

Despite the concerns, councillor Walker is a supporter of Clarkson and he has a lot of admiration for him. "He could open anything and turn it into quite a success," he said. In fact, the councillor said he thinks Clarkson has done more for the countryside than BBC show Countryfile which has been running since 1988.

"We've got loads of farm shops in West Oxfordshire. But to be able to get an audience through social media, a few tweets and Instagram messages to travel hours to your farm shop in the middle of nowhere is quite impressive. So I think him using his sort of motoring audience to come over to support the countryside and the rural community, I think, is huge and something he should be praised for.

"To be honest, I think he's done more for the farming community and the wildlife, rural community and Countryfile has because he's just managed to tap into a much younger audience, getting them to sort of buy British, and I think that's hugely important."

Read more: Countryfile viewers upset by 'doom and gloom' of forever chemicals piece

Yahoo has reached out to Jeremy Clarkson and Prime Video's representatives for further comment.