All that remains of the house – which it is understood was rented out by Clarkson to tenants – is an enormous pile of rubble and wood.

Neighbours, who received a letter warning them of the works just the night before Wednesday's blast, said they heard a series of explosions throughout the afternoon.

A grey dusty cloud still hung over the blitzed remains of the house on Thursday.

Villagers in nearby Chadlington said Clarkson and his team were in the area filming for his new Amazon TV show The Grand Tour this week.

The demolition marks the start of building work to create a brand new 12,173 sq ft home on what Clarkson calls Diddly Squat Farm.

Approved plans for the six-bedroom home claim it will be "a modest country house/gentrified farmhouse which gives the appearance of having grown over time".

It will have a walled garden, orangery, basement cinema and five bathrooms, as well as space for five cars and a quad bike store.