Zac Sanger-Reynolds, of North Hinksey Lane in Oxford, previously plead guilty to stalking at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 28.

He will appear at the Buckinghamshire court on Thursday, June 4 for an application to vary a restraining order.

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Sanger-Reynolds was handed the order in April after a mother-of-two spoke to the Oxford Mail about his ‘obsession’ after she became uninterested in him after two dates.

He was told to complete 100 hours of un-paid, supervised work within 12 months and undertake 26 days of rehabilitation.

He was also ordered to pay £199, including £114 for the victim surcharge and £85 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Construction company Taylor Wimpey was granted the development on appeal in 2017 for up to 95 homes at Thames Farm, off Reading Road in Lower Shiplake.

It has since reduced this to 84 to provide adequate drainage because “the land is unstable and vulnerable to sinkholes”.

Taylor Wimpey said the new drainage plans will ensure there are no off-site impacts relating to surface water and this will include a basin on the western part of the site.

Members of the Thames Farm Action Group, which represents Shiplake residents, have concerns about the environmental impact of the scheme, which they say has no precedent in the UK.

The ground would have to be injected with grout and concrete to keep stable despite it sitting on top of an aquifer that supplies water to nearby towns.

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Freddie van Mierlo has consistently objected to the plans (Image: Contributed)

In July 2025, the planning committee of South Oxfordshire District Council voted to refuse the ground-stabilisation application despite a recommendation for approval.

Councillors cited concerns about possible impacts on the aquifer and public water supply.

The formal refusal notice stated the application “failed to demonstrate that the proposed engineering operations would not pose an unacceptable risk to the aquifer and nearby public water abstraction points”.

But now the plans have been given the go ahead by a separate planning inspector.

Despite objections from the district council the project appears to have been given the go ahead.

Freddie Van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame, said: “I will be working with The Thames Farm Action Group, Henley Town Council, Shiplake Parish Council and Harpsden Councils to ensure their voices are heard.”

The new report states there is a risk, but it’s “an acceptable level of risk” for the area.

The TV cook, now best known for his seafood restaurants and BBC travel series, grew up on a farm in Churchill, a small village just outside the market town of Chipping Norton.

Mr Stein later went on to study English at Oxford, further strengthening his ties to Oxfordshire alongside his upbringing in the Cotswolds.

During his time as a student, he maintained a long‑term relationship with Jill Stein, who would go on to co‑found and run the business side of his restaurant empire.

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The Cotswolds village of Churchill, in Oxfordshire (Image: Wikimedia Commons / Philip Halling)

The couple later married, remained together for many years while building their businesses, and eventually divorced after their relationship broke down.

In a recent interview with The Times, the 76-year-old revisited a near‑fatal incident in Oxford which she says has left her with permanent hearing loss.

She had moved to London while Mr Stein was at Oxford, and had arranged to meet him in Oxford for a weekend.

Ms Stein discovered that he was instead drinking at a student club and confronted him when he eventually arrived at the pub where she was waiting.

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Jack Stein, Jill Stein, Charlie Stein, Rick Stein, and Edward Stein. (Image: Newsquest)

He recalled in the book that he reacted “angrily but also very lustfully”, but remembering that night, Ms Stein told The Times: “He did nearly kill me.”

Driving fast on the Oxford bypass, Mr Stein crashed into roadworks and hit a 44‑gallon drum, sending an oil lamp through the windscreen and into her head.

Ms Stein said: “He could see that I was bleeding quite a lot and I said, ‘oh, just put me to bed. I’ll be fine.’ And he thought, even though he was drunk, ‘no, I’m not sure about this’.

“‘I think I’ll ring the ambulance’. So he rang the ambulance and, because it was a 999 call, the police came along as well, and they breathalysed him.”

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The crash occurred while Rick Stein was studying at Oxford University. (Image: Murray Bosley)

At the John Radcliffe Hospital, a brain surgeon operated on her, and during her interview with The Times, Ms Stein pointed to her left side and added: “And that’s why I can’t hear in this ear.”

Asked how long it took her to forgive him, she reflected: “I never blamed him really. I don’t know why, but I didn’t.”

Mr Stein later began a relationship with Sarah Burns, a publicist who had worked with his company, while he was still married to Jill Stein.

The affair eventually led to the end of his first marriage, and he went on to marry his second wife in 2011, with the couple now living between Australia and the UK.