Jeremy Clarkson is being sued by a woman who was seriously injured in an accident after falling in the car park of his Farmer’s Dog pub.
Elizabeth Palmby, 68, broke her ribs and had to have surgery after tripping and slicing open her hand on ‘razor sharp’ temporary metal covers that had been placed in the carpark over muddy ground.
Surgeons later had to operate to remove metal fragments from the carpark that were left inside her hand.
After going on what she said was intended to be a ‘fun’ trip to the pub, she’s now been left with a ‘horrible’ jagged scar.
The former Top Gear presenter and Clarkson’s Farm star, 65, opened the doors to his Cotswolds pub in April 2024.
Following the incident at the venue Elizabeth, from Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, said: ‘It was supposed to be a great fun trip – I really wanted to visit as I enjoyed watching his Amazon show. But it was memorable for all the wrong reasons.’
Explaining what happened, she said: ‘I bought my most expensive boxes of eggs from the farm shop but then I fell on them and was left with diddly squat and was badly injured.
‘I know Jeremy is a perfectionist and the pub itself was perfect and the staff were great, but the carpark was a total disaster.
‘It is very dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. I am probably scarred for life.’
She continued: ‘Luckily, I keep myself fit and healthy and I think that helped me but anyone frail could have been more seriously injured.
‘At the minute that carpark is a danger to visitors and needs fixing urgently.’
NHS worker Elizabeth and her husband Darren had made the three-and half-hour journey down from their home in November last year, first visiting the Diddly Squat Farm before going to the Farmer’s Dog the next day.
After heavy rain overnight had left the field car park of the pub in Asthall in Oxfordshire covered in mud, large metal sheets had been placed over it.
‘It was very muddy as it had rained the night before. The cars were continuous, and you really had to watch out as every time they went over these aluminium sheets that would move and rise up as they weren’t fixed down and it was muddy underneath,’ Elizabeth recalled.
After having a soft drink and purchasing two boxes of eggs as a gift, she was walking back to her car when she fell.
Recalling what happened, she said: ‘It happened in slow motion – I caught my foot on one of the upturned sheets and my feet went from under me.
‘I instinctively threw my hand out to save myself and badly banged my knee. I fell flat landing on the bag carrying the eggs smashing them all.
‘It was really scary as then I was struggling to breathe and was in incredible pain. I knew I had done some damage then and had to go to hospital.’
After reporting the accident to staff in the carpark her husband – a former ambulance worker – rushed Elizabeth to hospital where she was given an X-ray on her hand and knee, where she only saw the full extent of the damage after she’d had the mud cleaned off her.
‘The first I knew my hand was injured was on way to the hospital when I touched the door handle and I saw blood, but it was still covered in mud,’ she said.
‘So, I didn’t know how bad it was. But when they cleaned it up, I saw a gaping open and jagged ugly wound. It was horrible and very painful.
‘The carpark covers must have been razor sharp to do that sort of damage. The nurse could only put steri strips on where the cut was because she said normal stitches would reopen.’
After being discharged and bandaged Elizabeth and Darren returned to the Farmer’s Dog to fill in the accident book. After having a complimentary meal and being given new eggs, they returned home.
However, after a consultant from the Witney Hospital reviewed her x-rays, Elizabeth was told to attend her local Scunthorpe General hospital to have ‘metal fragments’ removed from her hand.
The part time NHS administrator was suffering shortness of breath so also had a chest x-ray revealing that she had broken ribs. She was then referred to another hospital to see a plastic surgeon for hand surgery.
Doctors there spent hours ‘reconstructing’ the wound and removing metal carpark cover pieces, eventually using ten stitches to close the jagged, deep gash.
‘The surgeon /consultant brought out some metal that he dug out of my hand and asked if I wanted to keep it as a souvenir, but I didn’t need them as the scar on my hand and my painful ribs are a permanent reminder of my pub trip,’ she declared.
Concerned about the dangers posed to others in the carpark, Elizabeth and her husband returned to the pub to see if safety measures had been put in place, but nothing had changed.
‘I stayed in the car as my hand was still bandaged and i was embarrassed about what happened. But I had to see if it had been made safe, but it was exactly the same,’ she said.
‘Nothing had changed. I at least expected to see a sign saying “caution, uneven surface”. But there wasn’t. There appeared to be little or no maintenance of the sheets they weren’t screwed in or fixed in place. It was very shoddy.
‘It was as if nothing had happened to me and business as usual. When I saw someone else nearly fall I knew I had to do something as i couldn’t forgive myself if an elderly person or child was seriously injured and I could have stopped it.’
She went on to write to and email Clarkson and his pub highlighting the dangers of the carpark, but never received a repy.
Since then, planning permission to install a permanent hard surface to the car park has been approved by West Oxfordshire District Council. However, work cannot begin until a ‘detailed’ surface water drainage scheme has been submitted and approved in the next few months.
However, until then, the temporary metal coverings will continue to be use, which Elizabeth says poses an ongoing hazard.
‘It needs fixing now not later as more people could be seriously injured in the meantime,’ she said.
Although Elizabeth admits she felt ‘intimated’ by Clarkson, she decided to contact accident specialists Express Solicitors and started a legal claim for compensation.
‘Elizabeth suffered a horrific injury on what should have been a fun day out,’ Express Solicitors accident specialist Jack Klein said.
‘Celebrities are not above the law, they need to make sure their premises are safe and fit for purpose to protect people visiting their premises inside and out.’
Clarkson purchased The Windmill pub for around £1milllion over two years ago. He spent several months renovating it and adding outdoor searing and a shop selling Diddly Squat Farm merch before opening the doors to the public, who have since flocked to the venue.
Earlier this week a star of Clarkson’s Farm – Harriet Cowan – revealed she was rushed to hospital on Monday after ‘chopping the end of her finger off’ and requiring surgery.
The 24-year-old shared pictures onto her Instagram story which explained: ‘Sorry. I’ve been quiet! Been a cr***y week. Had a run in with a log splitter, chopping the end of my finger off. But quick surgery [and] they stitched it back on!!’
However, the farmer showed no sign of letting it get in her way, writing: ‘Lambing starts now.’
She went on to thank ‘the amazing team at Pulvertaft Hand Clinic’ and shared some gruesome looking pictures which showed the extent of the damage.
Metro has contacted representatives for Jeremy Clarkson for comment.
Clarkson’s Farm is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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