TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has come to the conclusion that the school run is "doomed".
He made the provocative claim in his latest farming column for The Sunday Times.
Mr Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter, runs Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington near Chipping Norton, the subject of the popular TV series Clarkson's Farm.
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He wrote in his column: "In the olden days, when everyone had diphtheria and everything was covered in soot, children would walk to school.
"But then, when the motor car became affordable, the school run became a thing. And soon everyone realised it could be shared."
The presenter said the arrival of the seatbelt meant that cars had to get bigger and concluded that "now the school run is seen as a greater contributor to the "climate catastrophe" than a BP executive's private jet.
Suggesting that the school run is "doomed", he added: "They are imposing such preposterously low speed limits and such draconian parking regulations, and there are so many cycle and bus lanes that the 15-mile school run from here into Oxford every morning now takes two hours."
Earlier this week it emerged that Mr Clarkson has agreed to sign a lucrative new deal with Amazon for three more series of Clarkson’s Farm.
Nothing is signed yet "however, the expectation is that a deal — likely to be worth at least $250m, like the previous one — will be announced when the third series starts streaming in March or April next year," said the Daily Mail.
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Friends of the presenter also told the newspaper they would not be surprised if, at 63, he decided to concentrate solely on Clarkson’s Farm rather than continue to film The Grand Tour and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
The second series, which started streaming in February, was Prime Video’s most watched original show in the UK.
In October, Mr Clarkson confirmed that the filming of season three had officially concluded and shared a snap with co-stars Kaleb Cooper, Gerald and Charlie Ireland.
Amazon Prime has not confirmed the exact release date for the third series except to say it will be sometime in 2024.
Sources told the Daily Mail that Amazon "is in active talks with Mr Clarkson over season four of the farming documentary series, which is easily its best-performing UK original".
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About the author
Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here.
He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.
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