Former Top Gear presenter Tiff Needell is trying to stop England’s oldest petrol station from being turned into a house.
The petrol station in the village of Turnastone in Herefordshire, dates back to 1919 and was last in use in 2010.
A couple bought the property – known as Glendore – last year and have submitted plans to renovate it.
However, talking to The Telegraph, Needell (who presented Top Gear from 1987-2001) criticised the plans for the Grade II-listed site and instead said it should be preserved as a museum.
“We have to try to keep things as they were so people can walk past them to soak up that feeling of ‘wow this is what it was like then’, and it can be a place for enthusiasts to drive by and know about. To walk through these histories is just a wonderful feeling. And it just seems unnecessary to ruin this tiny part of history,” he explained.
The new owners said they would keep the petrol pumps outside the house. “We plan to keep the petrol pumps and reinstate the enamel signs – this is all covered in the planning documents,” they said.
In a letter to the Herefordshire Council, Needell wrote: “It should be a museum. Where’s the imagination? Not a home please. Madness.”
The council’s consultation on the proposals has closed and a decision is expected to be announced shortly.
