A UK town is so overrun with potholes locals have named it « Pot Hole City » (Image: SWNS)
A mystery artist has been mocking a council by erecting signs around a town slamming the state of its pothole-ridden roads.
The anonymous campaigner, known as the Daventry Banksie, has left motorists baffled after putting up 26 hand-painted signs around Daventry, Northants.
Despite being repeatedly removed, she has vowed to continue making more in a bid to shame West Northamptonshire Council into repairing the craters.
The comical signs dub Daventry « Pot Hole City » and one referencing the musical Grease declares: « I got potholes. They’re multiplying. And W.N.C is losing control. »
Others joke « Ghostbusters. Who you gonna call? Not W.N.C » and « Warning: Extreme traffic calming – craters. »
Motorists say they have been left angry by the sheer volume of potholes plaguing the town’s streets and damaging people’s cars for the past few months.
And Daventry Banksie says she will not stop until « the council apologises publicly to the people of Daventry for being incompetent. »
She added: « I will be continuing until we have had an apology from the council and they publish an action plan stating what they will do to rectify the situation, how they are prioritising repairs, what they are doing to hold their contractors accountable, and finally what the specific timelines are.
“The community support has been fantastic, and I think that is where the real power is. We’re not allowing this to fade away until real action from the WNC is seen.
« I really believe we allow our government, both at a local and national level, to get away with incompetence and a lack of integrity.
“Going forward, I would urge anyone within the community to do what they can, whether this is putting their own signs up or even just continuing to share posts on social media, so we can keep this top of the agenda. »
Speaking to ITV News, she added: « I’m fed up of Daventry being the underdog.
Richard Nuthall next to the potholes on Abbey St, Daventry (Image: SWNS)
« Collectively, as a town, we will shame the council into repairing the roads properly.
« Especially when the council tax went up by the maximum allowance, we just deserve better.
« They keep repairing them shabbily and they have to keep coming back out again. It seems like such a waste of time, a waste of money. »
Drivers have said they have been left increasingly frustrated by the scores of potholes on the town’s roads, with many suffering flat tyres and broken springs.
Other residents have slammed the lack of council action, saying some roads have been left like a ‘slalom track’ as they try to avoid potholes.
Richard Nuthall, 69, who has lived in Daventry for 29 years, said: “The signs are certainly needed to highlight the holes as they are quite bad.
“All the time you’re driving your swerving in and out to avoid them.
« On some of the roundabouts you’re looking at the holes in the road to avoid them and not the actual cars.
“I think it’s quite a humorous thing and it’s obviously brought it to the attention of the council. I think the council should be doing more, they don’t do enough.”
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: « The council has been trying to cover the potholes since the signs have been up.
« They’ve been working at night to try and patch it up. Some of them aren’t exactly the best repairs. »
Daventry is located in Northamptonshire (Image: SWNS)
Another local Michael, 30, recently moved to the area from Bicester, Oxon, and said he had noticed a « huge difference » to the quality of the roads.
He said: « I moved here two months ago from Bicester and I can see that there’s a huge difference in road quality in Daventry.
« I’ve been travelling and it’s horribly bad, especially around the roundabouts.
« You need to manoeuvrer and it’s not safe at all as you focus more on the potholes than the actual roads. It should be the top priority.
« I think the signs are a good idea and making a strong argument. »
Councillor Jonathan Nunn, leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “Like all councils we face a challenge with roads deteriorating in the cold and wet winter weather and requiring urgent action.
« We understand people’s frustration with the current condition of the roads and we are prioritising completing the most essential work first as well as having a full plan of maintenance for the year and as the weather improves.
“Maintaining our roads is a significant task. In the Daventry area alone we’ve received nearly 4,000 reports in the past six months, attended around 500 emergencies, repaired 2,500 defects, and completed over 10,000 square metres of repairs to roads in the area.
« We’ve also completed four major road repair schemes in the town over the past year with more resurfacing work planned this month, but this must be done in warmer weather otherwise rain will cause the repairs to fail.
« Some of the repairs of most concern to residents in the Daventry area are on particular busy roundabouts, where we have repaired some, with one key roundabout scheduled for later this month as it requires a deeper repair which can only be properly repaired with the certainty of warmer spring weather.
“It’s a challenge for all councils to balance the competing priorities for our limited budgets. We know the state of our roads matters to the public.
« We spend £26m across our road and transport services annually, but the reality is to properly resurface all our roads in West Northants would cost as much as £250 million when our total budget for a year is just £400 million.
“We have implemented new technology to help and the investment we have made in the new Pothole Pro machine is paying off both in terms of the volume and quality of repairs.
« Last year we assumed that the machine would use nine tonnes of repair material a day but in this coming year we expect this to be 16 tonnes of material a day, significantly increasing the impact it has.
“With these challenges in mind we are grateful for the news that £162 million has been allocated to WNC from central government over the next seven years for our wider road network as part of the HS2 phase two cancellation, and are now awaiting more information on how and when this will be allocated.
« We can then consider this against our local road and transport priorities”
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