Clarkson rumoured to be behind bid to buy pub
VILLAGERS have said they would be thrilled if Jeremy Clarkson bought their local pub amid rumours the Top Gear star is planning a purchase.
Council insiders have reportedly said the 63-year-old is interested in buying the Grade II-listed Coach & Horses Inn, near Bourton-on-theWater, Gloucestershire.
Locals said he would be welcome to move into the pub, which is near the brewery where Clarkson’s Hawkstone Lager is produced.
It uses barley grown on the presenter’s Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire.
Tom Carty, 37, who is manager of the Willow Pub in Bourton-on-theWater, said: “It will be good for the village. He’s a very high-profile character.
In this area we are always looking for more reasons for tourists to come and if this brings more tourists in this direction that is a good thing.
“From my point of view it’s more positive than negative.
“There has been rumours for months about that site being purchased by Jeremy Clarkson.
“I don’t know what’s happened but it looks like he’s back on the hunt for it.
“The pub would suit him really well; it’s opposite his brewery so why wouldn’t you want a site like that?”
The Coach and Horses sits on a main road and used to be an Indian restaurant that was popular with locals.
Slav Wiswieski, 41, the assistant manager of the Willow Pub, who lives in Bourton-on-the-Water, said it used to be the “best Indian restaurant in the village” before it shut last year. It used to be open until late, and they used to do a British Sunday carvery even though it was Indian,” he said.
“I knew the people who ran it, they were very friendly and polite.
“There would always be something extra if you ordered anything.
“Great customer service and the food would be absolutely delicious there as well.”
He added that he hoped Clarkson purchases the pub.
“I reckon Jeremy Clarkson buying the pub would bring much more to the village because of the name, obviously.”