Pothole vigilantes: why people are mending Britain’s broken roads themselves

Name: Pothole vigilantism.

Age: Late byproduct of broken Britain.

Appearance: Endearingly amateurish.

Goodness, what now? Are vigilantes digging up the road to disrupt traffic? No, quite the opposite.

What do you mean? They’re filling in potholes.

That should keep them busy. It certainly should. The RAC says there are at least 1m potholes in UK roads.

Funny, I thought there would be more. There probably are. The road-safety campaigner Mark Morrell, who goes by Mr Pothole, launched a dashboard app that recently indicated there may be as many as 11.5m potholes in the UK.

Why don’t councils just fill them in? In short, a lack of funds. Road-maintenance spending has fallen in real terms and the backlog is always growing.

Hence pothole vigilantism. Exactly. Frustrated locals are taking matters – and macadam – into their own hands.

For example? In August, 75-year-old Jenny Paterson felt moved to fill in the potholes outside her home in Halkirk, Caithness, using her own gardening tools.

Did she do a good job? No, it looked terrible, but that’s not the point. “It’s temporary, but maybe it will shame the council into doing something,” she said.

So the shame is the point? In most cases, yes. In Horsham, West Sussex, 22-year-old Harry Haggett-Smith is busy embarrassing the council into action by planting flowers in potholes.

Does that work? He claims he has a near 100% success rate in getting councils to fix the potholes he plants up.

It’s the flowers I feel sorry for. They don’t tend to last long, but Haggett-Smith documents his efforts on TikTok, where he gets millions of views.

It sounds as if pothole vigilantism can be a creative hobby. For some. At the start of the year, 19-year old Ben Thornbury was pictured fishing in rain-filled potholes in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, to highlight their impressive depth. Previously, he had set up a crazy-golf course featuring local potholes.

What do local authorities have to say about pothole vigilantism? They’re against it. Of Paterson’s efforts, Highland council said: “Whilst the council appreciates the concerns around pothole repairs, it is not appropriate for individuals to undertake repairs on the public highway.”

Spoilsports. It’s the shame talking.

Do say: “We encourage prompt reporting of potholes so we can effect the necessary repairs as quickly as possible.”

Don’t say: “You bring a wheelbarrow and a hosepipe and I’ll bring the baby ducks.”