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Last week saw animal rights activists descended upon Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone Brewery, alleging that the Grand Tour host had allowed Heythrop Hunt Group to hunt on his estate.

The protest came shortly after Clarkson was reported by the Cotswold Hunt saboteurs, who claimed Clarkson had been filling in the badger setts on his Diddly Squat farm.

The Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs who amounted to just a handful of protesters held up banners outside Clarksons Brewery located in Bourton-on-the-Water which read ‘Jezza, hands off me badgers’ and ‘Stop those dirty hunts’.

The Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs along with the Gloucestershire Badger Office decided to take action alleging the hunt group had breached the 2004 Hunting Act which bans the use of dogs to catch and kill wildlife, believing that Clarkson had permitted the hunt group onto his land for an illegal hunt.

In the activists three requests, they asked that Clarkson not to allow fox hunting on his properties and to prohibit anyone from interfering with any badger setts.

The activists also demanded he stop anyone from partaking in the ‘badger cull’.  Clarkson is not accused of breaking the law in any way.

Lynn Sawyer, a member of the Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs, told the Telegraph ‘Clarkson is openly outspoken about his hatred for both foxes and badgers and seemingly is intentionally ignorant about the behaviours and impacts of both species.’

In an open letter to Clarkson, the activists wrote ‘We are writing this open letter to you concerning issues of wildlife persecution on land which you own.

‘It has been noted that you give permission to the Heythrop Hunt to hunt on your land.

‘They have been accused on numerous occasions of hunting wild mammals in breach of the Hunting Act 2004 and were convicted of illegal hunting offences back in 2012.

‘We are writing to you in the hope that we can start a dialogue regarding wildlife persecution and protection.’

Although the impassioned group repeated slogans taking aim at the former Top Gear presenter, the group hoped to spark a conversation with Clarkson.

A spokesperson for Action Against Fox Hunting, who also attended the protest said: ‘Jeremy Clarkson does diddly squat to protect wildlife.’

Thames Valley Police officers visited Clarkson’s property near Chadlington, Oxfordshire following the reports.

Clarkson denied the claims and also described the animal rights campaigners as ‘not very bright’.

A spokesperson from the Heythrop Hunt told GloucestershireLive: ‘The Heythrop Hunt conducts lawful trail hunting activities to comply with the Hunting Act.

‘The hunt liaises with landowners to obtain permission to conduct an activity which complies with the law and which is regulated by the British Hound Sports Association.’

‘More than 12,000 days of trail hunting take place each year yet hunts and landowners are regularly subjected to spurious allegations made by activists with a political agenda to stop an activity which simply involves people following a pack of hounds which are following a scent that has been dragged across the countryside on a smelly rag.’