Jeremy Clarkson issues Clarkson's Farm 'closure' statement after devastating news

Jeremy Clarkson has hit back at reports of his Diddly Squat Farm closing after he publicly revealed his farm had fallen victim to an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis outbreak. The Amazon Prime Video star clarified that the farm would still be very much open - but there were some restrictions in place while he deals with the devastating issue at hand.

The 65-year-old Clarkson's Farm star initially took to social media to share the news of the outbreak on Thursday, writing: "Bad news from Diddly Squat. We've gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated." He later added: "I should clear this up really. It's Bovine TB that we have. It doesn't affect people, just our poor cows." The sad update, which will more than likely result in the slaughter of some of his cows, was down to government regulations mandating the testing of cattle every six months. The regulations state that infected animals require immediate slaughter to prevent disease spread.

Speaking on Times Radio on Friday morning, Clarkson revealed that the farm is now on "lockdown". He shared: "It's awful, it is awful. You have a test every six months on the cows and then you sort of become blasé, it's a hypothetical threat.

"And then the vet looks up as he did yesterday lunchtime and said 'I'm really sorry this one's failed'. So that means we're now locked down and it's just dreadful, absolutely dreadful."

In an emotional confession, Clarkson added: "It's only been not even 24 hours since I found out and it occupies my mind. Well it was occupying my mind but I got up this morning and found one of my puppies has died.

"And we've got a very sickly calf. Honestly, farming? I'm not enjoying it this week."

Despite the livestock lockdown, the former Top Gear presenter went on to clarify that the Diddly Squat Farm Shop will continue to run unaffected as normal. He reassured customers, claiming: "It's only cows that get affected by it."

He also took to social media, namely X (Twitter) to address rumours of the farm closing its gates. In a furious post, Clarkson fumed: "There's some wholly irresponsible reporting about the bTB outbreak at Diddly Squat. The farm is NOT shut. We just can't buy or sell any cows."