Jeremy Clarkson warns orchid hunters to keep off his land after finding rare flowers
JEREMY Clarkson has warned orchid hunters to keep off his land after finding rare blooms.
The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host, 62, recently stumbled on a patch of green-winged orchids growing on his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds.
The former Top Gear host said that “hobbyist” orchid collectors were targeting farms like his up and down the country.
The Grand Tour star added: “There are orchids on my farm. And some are very rare.
“I know this because when they were found by members of a local horticulturalist society, they all ran around clutching their tinkles.
“It worries me that someone will steal them.”
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In 2010, police in Lancashire stepped up patrols to guard a super-rare Lady’s Slipper Orchid found growing at the Silverdale Golf Course in Carnfoth, Lancs.
Cuttings from the purple and yellow orchid can change hands for up to £5,000 as collectors try to complete their wild flower pressings.
Clarkson added: “I wish I was joking, but in recent months gardeners and landowners in Kent and Sussex have been reporting a spate of thefts from their wildflower meadows.”