Touching moment Jeremy Clarkson becomes tearful as he and his partner are forced to send their beloved 'pet' cow Pepper to the abattoir in new season of Amazon hit Clarkson's Farm

This is the touching moment Jeremy Clarkson becomes tearful as he is forced to send his beloved 'pet' cow Pepper to the abattoir. 

Jeremy wraps his arm around his girlfriend Lisa Hogan's shoulders as the couple, visibly emotional, fight back tears as they watch a lorry carrying thirteen of their cows drive off down a country lane.   

He rests his head against Lisa's then turns to face her with an anguished look on his face. Fighting back the tears, the couple walk hand-in-hand back to their home on Diddly Squat Farm for a cup of tea. 

The heartbreaking scenes, from the third series of Clarkson's Farm, now showing on Amazon Prime, capture a softer side of the 64-year-old former Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter. 

He reveals in the first episode of the new series he can no longer afford to keep all of his cows after West Oxfordshire District Council tells him has to close down his newly opened restaurant. 

Jeremy Clarkson becomes tearful as he and his wife are forced to send their beloved 'pet' cow Pepper to the abattoir

He reveals in the first episode of the new series he can no longer afford to keep all of his cows after West Oxfordshire District Council tell him has to close down his newly opened restaurant

Jeremy says the local authority has 'gone completely mad' as an enforcement notice details a long list of items he isn't allowed, which includes: plant pots, gravel, stone and wood chippings, and parking.  

As he watches the cows being loaded up onto the lorry, Jeremy turns to his land agent and advisor for a heart-to-heart.  

'I'm finding today really quite sad as for the last year I've been opening the windows, opening the curtains in the morning and there are the cows. And I love that,' Jeremy says.

'Making cow noises. It just cheers my heart every morning to see them.'

His worries then turn to the calves as he affectionately asks whether they will be able to sleep tonight.

But Kaleb Cooper, 25, then tells Jeremy it is he who won't be sleeping as they 'will be calling all night long'. 

Clearly anxious about Pepper's future, Charlie gives Jeremy a word of warning when he asks what will happen to her. 

'I wouldn't ask too many questions about Pepper,' Charlie says. 'Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to.'

There is an awkward moment of silence as Jeremy stares and blinks before turning away and letting out a big audible sigh and muttering: 'Oh Christ.' 

As he watches the cows being loaded up onto the lorry, Jeremy turns to his land agent and advisor Charlie Ireland for a heart-to-heart to ask what will happen to Pepper

There is an awkward moment of silence as Jeremy stares and blinks before turning away and letting out a big audible sigh and muttering: 'Oh Christ'

Pepper is one of thirteen cows that are loaded up onto the truck in heartbreaking scenes of the first episode of Clarkson's Farm 3

Jeremy took an instant shine to Pepper during Clarkson's Farm 2, when he is asked to look after her by five-year-old Rosie, the daughter of her previous owner. 

He said: 'This is my pet. Five-year-old Rosie, from the farm we bought her from, said this cow was her favourite.

'She asked: "Would you look after Pepper for me?" So I said I would.'

Later in the series, it is suggested she is sent for meat when a vet ­discovered that Pepper was not pregnant, but Jeremy snapped back: 'I'm not eating Pepper, and that's the end of it.' 

Throughout the series, viewers will also see Jeremy and his girlfriend Lisa Hogan reduced to tears when a large number of their beloved pigs tragically pass away.

However, it's not all doom and gloom for the farm owner as he visibly perks up when a new cohort of farm animals arrive and he realises how much money they will bring to the farm.

Jeremy said: 'The next day, irony of ironies, we get a visit from the butcher.

'Holy moly! The only words I can think of are ‘Farmer logic’, because all farmers love animals — and then they kill them and sell them.

The butcher wryly replied: 'This way you can love them twice.'

It also seems the local council is still on Jeremy's case about his various business ventures as they set their sights on closing down his farm shop and car park.

Clarkson's Farm has returned for a third series on Amazon Prime with all episodes available to stream now

Throughout the series, viewers will also see Jeremy and his girlfriend Lisa Hogan reduced to tears when a large number of their beloved pigs tragically pass away

It also seems the local council is still on Jeremy's case about his various business ventures as they set their sights on closing down his farm shop and car park 

The farm battles to save the on-site shop, which has become a hit with tourists, as Cheerful Charlie pushes back against the council's endless red tape.

Jeremy and Charlie get to grips with the latest Enforcement Notice and try to hatch a plan to stop the shop and burger van from suffering the same fate as the restaurant.

The second series of the Amazon Prime farming show centred around Jeremy and the gang's ambitions to open up a restaurant in the grounds of the farm.

Despite pushback from the council, they eventually managed to open up the farm restaurant - after jumping through a few hoops to make it happen.

At the farm shop, Charlie is tasked with making sure that Lisa is following the council's instructions to the exact letter of the law, much to her annoyance.

Speaking about the new rules, Lisa said: 'Charlie had to have a serious conversation with me and say that I could end up with a criminal record if I didn't comply, it's council regulations which I respect, especially after Charlie explained it to me in his clear and concise way.

Meanwhile, Jeremy gets feedback on the future of his farm shop as he attends a meeting with the local council to fight for it to stay open.

The new arrivals on the farm don't come quietly, as Jeremy decides his unfarmed land will become home to goats as well as pigs.

The pigs settle into their new home in the woods and the series follows the birthing season, which ends in utter heartbreak for Jeremy and Lisa.

The farm battles to save the on-site shop, which has become a hit with tourists, as Cheerful Charlie pushes back against the council's endless red tape 

Diddly Squat farm becomes home to a drove of rare breed pigs, as Jeremy turns his hand at his latest hare brained plan to make money for the farm

Explaining his reasoning for buying pigs, Jeremy said: 'I got pigs into the woods: woods are normally empty of cash, no money comes from them, so I just did little bits and bobs like that to see if I could make more than he did.'

Jeremy and Lisa are incredibly hands-on with the births and are even forced to intervene when they aren't running smoothly.

Most of the births happened at night in the bitter cold, but they had to be on hand in case the mothers ran into any trouble.

Jeremy said: 'The sows were giving birth, but it was always in the middle of the night, and it was bitterly cold.

'When you've got a sow that's in trouble, you have to help out, and the fact is that Lisa's hands are smaller than mine so she was the first to say, 'It has to be me, it would be ridiculous to put your big old boxing gloves up the sow'.

'She went literally shoulder deep. She did say afterwards at least it was it was warm up there.'

Heartbreakingly, not all of the piglets made it, and a recent trailer for the series showed the moment a baby pig was pulled out looking lifeless.

The central storyline throughout the series is Jeremy's competition with Kaleb, who has recently been promoted to farm manager.