Jeremy Clarkson fears he ‘won’t make money back’ after splurging £1,000,000 on pub

Jeremy Clarkson has admitted his financial worries after splurging nearly £1,000,000 on his new pub.

The former Top Gear host, 64, opened the doors to his The Farmer’s Dog pub in the Cotswolds in August.

It’s since left people shocked at the price of pints and food, while merch alone costs up to £60.

The high costs come as he works to make up the £1,000,000 he originally spent, with reports claiming the previous owner hadn’t even planned on selling it when Clarkson made his offer.

But he now might be regretting his decision, as the new venture has put some financial strain on him.

The Clarkson’s Farm host admitted to The Daily Mail’s Tom Parker Bowles: ‘This place is ­costing us a fortune. God knows if we’ll ever make our money back.’

He also added it once had a very different name, saying: ‘We were going to call it The Dog Inn, in honour of the place once being a famous dogging site, but perhaps that was a little close to the bone.’

Clarkson admitted his new venture was located on a renowned dogging spot shortly after buying it, telling his followers at the time: ‘Tell me you bought a pub on a dogging site without telling me you bought a pub on a dogging site.’

Clarkson’s pints cost £5.50, while food ranges in price from £15 for a vegetable and cheddar crumble, to £19 for a Lancashire hot pot.

Smaller dishes like garlic mushrooms with a poached egg cost £8 and desserts like the strawberry meringue are priced at £9.

And Clarkson isn’t the only one profiting from the pub, as he added that a local farmer in a field has an overflow carpark where he charges £2 per car.

‘Far more profitable than maize,’ he laughed.

When Clarkson’s pub opened its doors to the public last month, he admitted it had initially been a ‘disaster’.

‘There have been massive, massive struggles. We quietly opened yesterday and it was a disaster – and I do mean a disaster,’ he told PA.

‘We’ve resolved some of the difficulties today. The main thing everyone has been saying is that we will cause traffic chaos.

‘We’ve worked so hard to make sure we can park as many cars as we need to. The traffic is flowing brilliantly. The council have learned their lessons and they have been really helpful.’

Since the backlash over prices, Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper has firmly defended The Farmer’s Dog, telling Metro.co.uk: ‘I’ve spent a little time there. It’s fantastic, it’s great, it’s really just a good traditional pub with good food, highlighting the quality of British produce.’

‘I don’t think there’s any difference in prices to any other pub.’

His co-star on the Amazon Prime TV series, Charlie Ireland, added: ‘We aimed for a bit cheaper than the local area because the pubs are sort of renowned for high prices. We’ve tried to make it affordable for people.’