A homeowner has hit back at former Top Gear host Tiff Needell after becoming embroiled in a row over turning 'England's oldest petrol station' into a house.

Mike and Ashley Clark purchased Glendore in the Golden Valley village of Turnastone, Herefordshire, for £300,000 last February.

They have since spent thousands of pounds renovating the Grade II-listed property after planning permission was granted to convert the historic site last month.

Mr Needell, who presented the BBC show in the 80s and 90s, joined a campaign with other motoring enthusiasts to try and stop the couple "ruining a part of history."

The 72-year-old ex-racing driver claimed the site would become just a "token rather than living history" and said it should be turned into a museum instead. "

But grandfather-of-three Mr Clark has brushed off the criticism and says he has saved the neglected building falling into a state of disrepair.

He and his wife are also restoring the old petrol station to its former glory and pointed out the building had already been used as home for 100 years.



As well as getting permission to add a single-storey extension, detached garage and new access road, the pair say they will restore the two pumps and reattach old signage.

Father-of-two Mr Clark, a software engineer, added: "We looked around the property when it went on the market and although it was rather run down and neglected, we were attracted to its quirkiness. "

"I'm a lover of cars myself. My dad was a car salesman for 40 years and I'm passionate about historic cars as well. . "

"The petrol station history was a feature that appealed to us. The property was on the market for £300,000 and that's what we paid for it. "

"There was a lot of interest in it but because it was a bit neglected, with damaged walls, I think that put some people off."

"We applied for planning permission straight away and have been in consultation with the council the whole way through. "

"We also had a full historical heritage survey carried out so we have been open and transparent and not done anything underhand."

"We also had no objections at all. Everybody in the village is behind us and actually happy with what we're doing because we've saved the place from being lost. "

"If we hadn't have bought it, the building would have fallen down because there was"

a great big crack running through it.

"We're not changing the appearance, we are going to restore it so it looks like it did in its heyday. We want to preserve the heritage of the place, not destroy it."

"So you can imagine my surprise when just before Christmas, people began saying we were getting comments on the property from the likes of Tiff Needell."

"Now, I don't dislike Tiff in the slightest but he's got it wrong because this place has already been a house for 100 years as it started life as a farmhouse."

"In fact, I agree it needs to be saved and that's exactly what we're doing, including restoring the petrol pumps."

"We're keeping everything the way it was and restoring it to its former glory, so to see the comments Tiff made was really strange."

"There were some signs on the building that were taken off before we bought it, which we have in storage and those will go back up too after a quick clean up. "

"If the people complaining had looked at the planning documents, they would see that this is all there."

"It has been used as a house for its entire 100 year history pretty much. People used to be very entrepreneurial in the countryside and turned their homes into business."

"They would have a shop in their living room. This house doesn't even have a bathroom, they used to wash in the sink."

"We'll be giving it a new bathroom and kitchen, and turning it into a three bedroom house. "

"I'd be very happy for Tiff to be come here and take a look at what we're doing as I think he would actually be quite pleased."

"I have just finished off restoring the windows to how they originally looked and we are spending all our our available time working on the property."

The building’s use as a filling station dates from 1919 and was last used so in 2010 - but it has been abandoned ever since.

It was founded by H James Charles Wilding and taken over by his sons Hedley and Percy before being passed on to Hedley's son.

Among 12 objections, Mr Needell wrote: "England’s oldest surviving petrol station should be preserved as just that. It should be a museum!"

His views were echoed by several other figures from the motoring world, while others claimed the land would be contaminated from its previous use.

Philip Porter, a motoring journalist, said that not to preserve "this unique motoring monument" would be "sacrilege"."

But neighbours Penny Plato and Philip Newton said the property "has been poorly maintained by previous owners the Countryside Regeneration Trust and has now been empty for some time"."

They also pointed to its previous use as a family home adding: "We hope this long overdue renovation work can start without further delay."

Another resident Cynthia Comyn said: "To have two more people who actually intend living here and maintaining a charming old house is a considerable benefit to the village."

Approving the application, planning officer Elsie Morgan concluded: "Though the shop element is to be lost in the development, the use of the building in its entirety as a dwelling is considered acceptable in ensuring the asset is conserved and protected into the future."