Jeremy Clarkson has hit out at what he describes as a growing wave of “food intolerance fraud,” after a customer at his Cotswolds pub allegedly tried to claim thousands in compensation.
The Clarkson’s Farm star detailed the bizarre incident in his column for The Times, saying it’s become a regular problem for landlords.
He recalled one woman who claimed she’d been served beer instead of cider, insisting the gluten made her so sick she had to cancel her holiday and that his pub should pay her back.
“We had one the other day who said she’d been given beer instead of cider and the gluten in it had made her so ill she’d had to cancel her holiday and we now had to reimburse her,” Clarkson wrote.
“Happily, we have her on CCTV not drinking beer, so we are safe on that one. But often landlords aren’t so lucky. Many tell me this food intolerance fraud is now an epidemic.”
Clarkson went on to criticise “faddy eaters” who he claims are damaging business, even joking that he has considered banning those with intolerances.
“I know it would be commercial suicide,” he admitted, “but they are just so annoying.”
The outspoken presenter also revealed that food intolerance claims are just one of several headaches for his pub staff, pointing to drunken brawls, children being locked in bathrooms and one particularly grim clean-up job.
“I do know that one day, after all the staff have left for the night, Rupert’s going to check the loos in his pub and find that someone has pebbledashed the walls with a gallon of diarrhoea,” Clarkson quipped.
Elsewhere, Clarkson revealed that cyber criminals stole £27,000 from his Cotswolds pub.
The TV presenter, who earlier this year admitted to sleepless nights over the future of his Diddly Squat farm, said he had become the latest victim of hacking.
Writing in The Sun, Clarkson explained: “So, Jaguar Land Rover had to shut down its production lines this week after systems were breached by computer hackers. And we are told similar attacks were launched in recent months on both M&S and the Co-op.
“But no one thought to mention that my pub, The Farmer’s Dog, has been hit too. It was though. Someone broke into our accounting system and helped themselves to £27,000.”
It is unclear how the hackers accessed the pub’s computer system, or whether police have had any success in tracing the culprits.
