Jeremy Clarkson fuming after he's banned from selling crayfish at farm shop

Jeremy Clarkson has been banned from selling crayfish at his farm shop.

The 62-year-old TV star - who has attempted to embrace agriculture at his Diddy Squat farming estate as part of his Amazon Prime show 'Clarkson's Farm' - continues to run a store selling his produce onsite but has been stopped from selling crayfish because they are classed as an "invasive species."

He said: "The problem is the crayfish I have are American so they’re labelled an invasive species. The Government’s forced to spend millions employing a team to make and apply rules about what can and can’t be done with them.”

Jeremy insisted he wants to be able to trap the crayfish and sell them as a "glorified prawn cocktail" but claims he's been banned from embarking on the money-making venture by bosses at the Environment Agency.

The former 'Top Gear' host claimed to have attended meetings with the orgnaisation to make sure he adhered to the rules about trapping the creatures but was told that they are "currently unable to process applications to trap crayfish".

Writing in his column in The Times, he added: "The upshot is the crayfish will continue to wreak havoc. Whereas if the government employed fewer spies and fewer bureaucrats and wrote fewer rules, it'd be a little bit better. And we'd have lower taxes.”

Jeremy has been attempting to improve the facilities at his shop, which is based close to his farm in Chadlington, Chipping Norton but a recent planning application to extend the car park was turned down by West Oxfordshire District Council.

The council's development manager, Abby Fettes, said of the plan: "By reason of its location, size and design the proposed development would not be sustainable and would not be compatible or consistent in scale with the existing farming business or its open countryside location.

"(It) would have a visually intrusive and harmful impact on the rural character, scenic beauty, and tranquillity of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Wychwood Project Area."