Pub thieves think Clarkson's glasses are top gear

When you are a celebrity with a pub you are apparently fair game for souvenir hunters.

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has described the theft of branded pint glasses from his pub as “worse than galling”.

Clarkson owns the The Farmer’s Dog in Burford, Oxfordshire, producing Hawkstone beers. He has pleaded with libationists to stop their larcenous ways.

Clarkson revealed that on one day last week 104 pint glasses “went missing”, which was making it harder for the pub to turn a profit, website the drinks business reported.

“People seem to have it in their heads that if they come in for a pint they are entitled to go home with the glass in which it was served,” he said.

“Last Sunday 104 [pint glasses] went missing. And that cost must be added to the £100 a day we spend on fuel for the generator, the £400 a week it costs to provide warmth on the terrace and the £27,000 a month we must spend on parking and traffic marshals to keep the council off our back.”

Some of the Hawkstone-branded pint glasses have already appeared on ebay.

To dissuade thieving tipplers from pocketing his glasses, Clarkson has resorted to printing new beer mats featuring his face and the words: “Jeremy is watching. Don’t steal his pint glasses!”

Clarkson’s pub is located just 15 kilometres away from the motoring journalist’s Diddly Squat Farm.