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A34 CLOSED after major crash involving lorry and tractor

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A crash on the A34 near Chilton is causing major delays for drivers this afternoon, with the busy road partially blocked and queues expected to get worse.



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Jeremy Clarkson mocked as ‘fake farmer by Saturday Night Live

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SNL UK turned its fire on both the Oxfordshire farmer and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in its latest episode.

The game show sketch attacked the PM’s decision to appoint Lord Peter Mandelson as British ambassador to the United States.

This followed revelations that Lord Mandelson failed the vetting process before taking up the Washington post, with Sir Keir insisting he and his ministers only discovered this recently.

READ MORE: Over 25,000 people to descend on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm this summer

The Labour peer was later removed from the role over his links to Jeffrey Epstein and is now the subject of a police investigation into claims he leaked sensitive government papers to the convicted sex offender while serving as business secretary.

Against that backdrop, Saturday’s show (25 April) began with a spoof of ITV quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, rebranded Who Wants To Remain A Millionaire, with Sir Keir in the contestant’s chair.

Comedian Mr Al Nash took aim at Mr Clarkson’s public image as he appeared as the former Top Gear presenter.

“I’m your host, fake farmer and real a***hole Jeremy Clarkson,” he said.

“Let’s bring out our contestant for the night. You hate him, I hate him – it’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer.”

READ MORE: First look at Clarkson’s Farm series five as new photos released

Actor Mr George Fouracres reprised his shambling version of Sir Keir and was asked: “Is it ever a good idea to give Peter Mandelson a job?”

Reading the options, Nash’s Clarkson said: “A. No. B. Of Course Not. C. Not In A Million Years. D. Yes.”

“It’s a tricky one, Jeremy,” Starmer replied.

“I think I’m going to have to use a lifeline on this one, I’ll ask the audience.”

Although the audience vote heavily backed C, the sketch prime minister went on to use 50‑50 and then chose to phone a friend, Lord Mandelson, introduced by the host as a “paedophile-adjacent Bond villain”.

READ MORE: King Charles offers £30,000 sum for help at home in Cotswolds

SNL UK performer Mr Larry Dean appeared as Lord Mandelson, dressed in a white robe embroidered “J.R”, echoing photographs of him in the Epstein documents.

When Starmer asked if it was ever sensible to give him a job, Mandelson replied: “Me? A job? I’d be careful if I were you,” before laughing menacingly as the studio lights turned red.

After being offered another 50‑50 and left with C, Starmer said: “I know it’s not conventional, but I’d actually like to bring back one of the previous options because I’m going to go with D – final answer.”

Pressed on whether he was sure, he responded: “Oh, never.”

When told he had chosen the wrong response, he concluded: “Jeremy, it’s clear to me now that that was the wrong decision.

“Would I make the same decision again, knowing what I know now? Quite possibly.”





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Jeremy Clarkson admits Cotswolds farm ‘won’t make money’

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The 66-year-old owns a 1,000‑acre holding known as Diddly Squat Farm, near Chipping Norton in West Oxfordshire, where his hit Amazon series Clarkson’s Farm is filmed.

The site includes the Diddly Squat Farm Shop and a restaurant, which attract visitors from across the country and regularly cause queues on local roads.

In 2024, the former Top Gear presenter also bought a village pub at Asthall, near Burford, renaming it The Farmer’s Dog.

READ MORE: Over 25,000 people to descend on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm this summer

The Cotswolds inn, on the A40, now operates as a pub and restaurant serving Hawkstone beer and produce linked to the farm.

Writing in his latest Sunday Times column, Mr Clarkson said: “I’m very proud that we’ve been selected to host this prestigious event, but also a little embarrassed, because 30,000 farmers will be talking nonstop about farming on a farm where not much actual farming is going on.

“We know for a fact we won’t make money on wheat and barley. And we’re still closed down with TB.

“Last month, when I would normally be out in the fields planting the spring barley and the durum wheat, Cheerful Charlie, my land agent and all-round font of wisdom, told me that this year there’s absolutely no point, because even if the weather is perfect and I make no mistakes, we are guaranteed to lose money. It is a mathematical certainty.”





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HMO plans for 6-bedroom terrace house in Oxford approved

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A report to Oxford City Council’s planning committee considered minor amendments to an earlier scheme already granted for the property in Steep Rise in northeast Oxford.

The previous permission, approved on Thursday, October 24, allowed the demolition of a side extension and the construction of a two-storey side extension and a part-single, part two-storey rear extension.

Under the latest, part‑retrospective application, the house has now been signed off as a six-bedroom HMO.

READ MORE: Plans proposed for an eight-bedroom HMO in Bicester

Several changes already completed on the site, include four new windows, alterations to the flat roof as well as new bin and cycle storage.

Four-bedroom terraced house will be converted into a six-bedroom House of Multiple Occupancy in Sheep Rise, Oxford (Image: Robin Akers Ltd)

The finished layout will provide six en-suite bedrooms of at least 8.5sqm, a 24.6sqm kitchen-diner, additional communal space and a utility area off the kitchen.

The scheme was called in to committee by six councillors over concerns about the proliferation of HMOs in the area and whether communal cooking facilities would be adequate.

However, planning officers said “the development would make the best and most efficient use of the site”, delivering a “high quality and sustainable development”.

Oxford’s Local Plan caps HMO numbers at no more than 20 per cent of properties within 100m of any application site.

Officers reported that only one of the 24 nearby properties is recorded as an HMO, meaning that, with this approval, around 8.3 per cent of homes in the immediate area will be in shared use.





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