Jeremy Clarkson says badgers are shot at Diddly Squat Farm

The former Top Gear presenter runs Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington, which is the subject of popular Amazon Prime TV show Clarkson's Farm.

Clarkson's Farm is back for a third series which will premiere on Prime on May 3.

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in the first episode of the new series, Mr Clarkson opens up about the onslaught of challenges he and his team have faced in months since series 2 concluded. 

One of the worst issues he has faced on the farm has been changeable weather conditions.

Diddly Squat experienced a hot summer followed by torrential rain in the spring, which has not been helpful for growing barley and potato crops. 

Another problem Mr Clarkson has experienced is badgers.

Last month it emerged that the Clarkson's Farm star was visited by Thames Valley Police officers after he was reported by hunt saboteurs for filling in badger setts on his land at the Chadlington farm.

Mr Clarkson denied these claims, saying he had shot the badgers legally and therefore had no need to fill in the setts.

He has revisited the subject in a recent interview with The Guardian.

Mr Clarkson said: "Badgers are much loved in certain circles. Not here.

"We haven't filled in a badger's sett. There's no point because we've shot them.

"So is it contrary to say we've shot our badgers? It's a true fact."

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Under UK wildlife law it is illegal to damage, destroy, block or disturb badger setts.

According to the RSPCA, it is an offence to wilfully kill, injure or take a badger, or intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to a badger sett.

There are exceptions where licences can be granted to disturb badgers or block access to a sett, for example, because of development work or forestry operations.

Mr Clarkson has insisted in a column in The Sun that the shooting of badgers on his land has been carried out legally.

In the new series Mr Clarkson also discovers that his sunflowers can’t be harvested, and he receives a closure notice for his restaurant.

Season three will not be the last after it was confirmed in November that the show will return with season four being given the green light by Amazon.

Fozia Khan, Amazon Studios’ head of unscripted in the UK, announced the news last year with work already underway for the fourth series of the Prime Video 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.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.