Retired builder, 72, turns 'pothole vigilante' by mending craters - and gets job offer from council

A retired builder who became a 'pothole vigilante' by repairing road craters on his own has been signed up by his council to fix them full-time.

Resourceful Reg Winsor, 72, got so fed up waiting for a huge pothole on his street in Devon to be repaired that he took matters into his own hands and fixed the hole himself.

Reg, from Ilsington on Dartmoor, decided to do it as he had had enough of people moaning but doing nothing.

He said: ‘I'd been complaining about this pothole for months and even though I was going through the right means, nothing was done about it. 

‘It's simple really - they haven't got the money to do it, so I just decided to do it myself. The tarmac was given to me by local labourers and the rest I had myself.'

The job took him just 15 minutes - and council roadworkers were so impressed by his handiwork they offered him a full-time position fixing problem potholes.

Reg is about to take part in a two-hour 'course' on how to fill in potholes before he is let loose on the rutted roads of county Devon - and he has already mustered up a team of around 50 volunteers, dubbed 'Reg's Army', who will help him fix holes as they are reported. 

Devon County Council have agreed to provide him with all the tarmac he needs although he will be using his own tools - and doing the work for free.

Reg said: ‘I'm a volunteer, I don't get paid for it. The highway guys came to my house and asked me to do it. 

‘We need to do it as a team, together everyone achieves more. Imagine if everyone decided to do what I had done.'

Reg used tarmac and a thumper given to him by a friend to fill a pothole on his street - nicknamed ‘The Crater’ by residents - after contractors failed to fix it. 

The following day he was visited by two men from Devon County Council's highways department, who suggested he should go on a course.

Reg, a local parish councillor, said of his new charitable endeavour:  ‘We're saying that we are happy to fix any pot holes in the area.'

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Devon County Council, which has an estimated roads repairs backlog of £758 million, welcomed the volunteer road repairers.

It spends £1 billion every year maintaining its 8,000 miles of roads but is attempting to save £3.4 million. 

Councillor Stuart Hughes, cabinet member for highway management, said: 'Devon County Council is looking to respond positively to offers of help that we've received from local members of the community like Reg.'

Anyone who spots a pot hole in the Devon area should email Reg on regiwins@aol.co.uk