Jeremy Clarkson explains how his pub garden stays green during hosepipe ban

TV personality turned farmer Jeremy Clarkson has revealed how he has navigated the hosepipe ban - declaring 'it's not a difficult concept to get your head around'.

Clarkson's Cotswolds pub, The Farmer's Dog, has found itself subject to a hosepipe ban, much like the rest of the UK. Relentless heatwaves and a gruelling drought have compelled water companies to implement sweeping restrictions.

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Currently around 40% of the population are prohibited from using hosepipes for watering gardens, washing cars or filling paddling pools.

However, there are a number of lawful exemptions and exceptions that allow people to work around the rules imposed by water companies.

Clarkson appears to have made use of one of these at his hugely popular pub in Burford, Oxfordshire, which was thrust into the spotlight by the hit Amazon Prime series Clarkson's Farm, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Aerial photographs captured above the venue on Monday (August 17) revealed large portions of the grass maintaining its lush green appearance while certain patches and the surrounding fields remained a scorched brown.

The TV presenter, 66, let slip the details while musing over how crooner Sir Rod Stewart has managed to keep the grass green at his Essex mansion, as he took a swipe at "the nation's bitter people".

Writing in his newspaper column, Clarkson said: "An aerial photograph of the lush green lawns outside Sir Rod Stewart's sprawling mansion in Essex prompted the nation's bitter people to ask: 'How did you manage that, mate, when there's a hosepipe ban in force?'

"Well, let's think. Could it be, perhaps, that Rod, here with wife Penny, probably has a borehole. It's not a difficult concept to get your head round."

Clarkson continued by explaining how you can "get around government interference" by drilling a hole approximately 100 metres into the ground before installing a pump and extracting the water.

He added: "That's what we did at my pub, which is why the lawns are also weirdly verdant."

Private boreholes are entirely lawful to use during a hosepipe ban because the water doesn't originate from the public treated mains supply.

A borehole is a shaft drilled deep underground to tap into natural groundwater. Once it has been lined and equipped with an electric pump, you can attach a standard garden hose straight to the pressure system and water your lawn without breaching any drought restrictions. They can be expensive though, and can cost tens of thousands of pounds to set up.

Clarkson purchased the pub, formerly known as The Windmill, in 2024, reportedly for less than £1million.

The television personality refurbished the establishment, and its grand reopening in August 2024 was attended by hundreds of patrons who queued for hours.

The Farmer's Dog operates from Tuesday to Saturday each week and one of its distinctive features is it exclusively sources produce made in Britain.