‘I just want it left as it is’, pleads former Top Gear star as he slams development of England’s oldest petrol station
It was first used as a filling station in 1919
A FORMER Top Gear star has added his voice to the campaign to save England’s oldest petrol station amid plans to redevelop it.
The owners of the Grade-II listed site in Turnaston, Herefordshire, which closed in 2010 after almost a century in operation, have applied for planning permission to repair the existing outbuilding and build a new garage.
Mike Clark, 63, bought the former filling station in February last year as a retirement cottage for him and his wife.
He insists that he will keep the petrol pumps erected outside and reinstate the original enamel signs, which were taken into storage to protect them from damage.
But Tiff Needell, the face of the original series of Top Gear between 1987 and 2001, claims that the building should be preserved as it is.
In fact, the veteran presenter even believes he may have filmed for the long-running BBC motoring show at the petrol station in the 1990s.
He told The Sun Online: “It just seems such a shame.
“We’ve got so few of these real-life treasures left and we keep trying to bulldoze them.
“We need to preserve as many of these as we can.
“It’s quite a lovely, quaint little place…a real time-warp.”
He urged planners to reject Mr Clark’s application and encouraged other well-resourced petrolheads to buy the site and repurpose it tactfully.
Tiff even suggested that, as long as it was “done tastefully”, the old station could be turned into an EV charging hub and “brought back to life”.
Failing that, he added: “I just want it left as it is.
“It can still be lived in as is.
“It’s a lovely little story and it doesn’t need to change.”
However, Mr Clark has hit back at the campaign to have his application turned down.
He told The Telegraph that he intends to preserve as much of the original building as possible, calling it a “labour of love.”
And he also lashed out at the publicity around the case, saying: “Sometimes people just want the opportunity to put themselves out there and show off.”
Herefordshire County Council has been contacted for comment.
