From Arnold Schwarzenegger to Rod Stewart: The pothole vigilantes who took road repairs into their own hands

From DIY repairs to crude graffiti on the road, frustrated motorists around the world have often resorted to taking matters into their own hands to get potholes on their streets fixed.

An Italian pensioner fined for fixing a road himself and a New Zealand motorist who spray-painted penises on the street to force speedy repairs are just two of the pothole vigilantes who have recently emerged.

Even Arnold Schwarzenegger recently took it upon himself to fill what he thought was a pothole in his neighbourhood.

Back in the UK, highways chiefs are searching for a mystery motorist who poured concrete into a huge pothole that had forced the closure of a road for weeks in Cornwall. Authorities said the work had been done “by persons unknown, without consent”.

Here we take a look at some of the most memorable pothole vigilantes who have taken matters into their own hands:

Penis painting vigilante

A motorist decided to take things into his own hands in New Zealand and draw large penises on the roads to force authorities to fix the potholes in the city of Auckland.

Auckland Transport vowed two years ago to take legal action against Geoff Upson, a self-professed road safety campaigner, and said that it would not tolerate vandalism, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Mr Upson received a call from police after a citizen complained about his penis drawing.

He has since been told off by police and now uses yellow rubber ducks instead, according to Stuff.

Mr Upson had been spray-painting in neon green colour around potholes in Auckland since 2018.

He told Vice that the first time he drew on the road was “out of frustration.” He said he had lodged around 20 complaints about a “huge and dangerous pothole” on a local road but there was no response.

Pensioner fined nearly €900 for filling pothole

An Italian pensioner who fixed a pothole after becoming frustrated by the council’s alleged lack of action was fined nearly €900 for taking matters into his own hands and repairing the road himself.

Claudio Trenta vowed to fight the “injustice” of the fine after using cold bitumen to fill the 30cm hole at a zebra crossing in Barlssina.

The 72-year-old was slapped with a €882 (£767) penalty for violating the highway code. The council said he carried out a potentially dangerous job in a public space without getting permission to do so.

A defiant Mr Trenta said he would file a counterclaim against the council after he was ordered to restore the pothole to its original state.

“If they think I’m an idiot, they are wrong,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper. “They’ve provoked me, and so now I’m filing a countercomplaint against the council for negligence.”

Pothole putter

A teenager in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, decided to make a point last month about the town’s potholes – by using the damaged roads to make a crazy golf course to force authorities to take action.

Ben Thornbury, 18, mocked up a sign saying ‘High Street Crazy Potholes Golf Now Open’in the middle of the town, with more than 20 residents showing up to take part.

“The potholes in town have been a massive issue for months now. Residents have been complaining on Facebook saying all the roads and the high street is full of them,” he said.

“We’ve been reporting it and had no response from the council and now people are getting fed up that nothing is being done about it.”

A local councillor said the area had been awarded extra funding from the government’s Pothole Fund which it will be using to tackle the “huge increase in potholes”.

Father fills in potholes after son’s fatal crash

An Indian father had filled in almost 600 potholes across Mumbai back in 2018 after his son became one of the thousands of Indians killed every year in accidents caused by potholes.

Dadarao Bilhore’s son Prakash died aged just 16 in July 2015, when the motorbike he was on with his cousin hit a large pothole and sent them both flying through the air.

Using sand and gravel collected from building sites, the 48-year-old vegetable vendor was paying tribute to his son while hoping he would save lives in the city.

“Prakash’s sudden death left a huge void in our lives. I do this work to remember and honour him. I also don’t want anyone else to lose a loved one like we have,” Mr Bilhore told AFP.

The accident happened during its summer monsoon season, which can often result in heavy rain creating crater-like holes.

Prakash suffered fatal brain damage, while his cousin, who was the only one wearing a helmet, had minor injuries.

Arnold Schwarzenegger fills in pothole… that wasn’t actually a pothole

The Terminator actor took it upon himself to fill in a “giant pothole” in his neighbourhood last month – only it wasn’t actually a pothole.

The former California governor shared a video of himself filling in what he described as a “giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks” outside his Brentwood home.

“I went out with my team and fixed it. I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go,” he tweeted.

The video showed the actor and his friends using shovels to patch up the troublesome area with asphalt.

At one point, a driver stopped and thanked Schwarzenegger for taking action. “You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. For three weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed,” the actor replied.

However, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works later said that the supposed pothole was actually an essential service trench being used by the utility company, Southern California Gas Company, in the Brentwood area.

“This location is not a pothole,” the department told NBC News. “It’s a service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by SoCal Gas, who expects the work to be completed by the end of May.”

Rod Stewart takes action

Last year, fellow celebrity Rod Stewart also filled in potholes near his home, saying “no one can be bothered to do it”.

The 78-year-old singer shared videos of himself shovelling gravel outside his Essex estate as he complained about the damage the pothole could do to his Ferrari.

“People are bashing their cars up,” he said. “The other day, there was an ambulance with a burst tyre. My Ferrari can’t go through here at all.

“So me and the boys thought we’d come here and do it ourselves.”

Essex County Council subsequently confirmed the road had been repaired.

A spokesman added: “We would be happy for Sir Rod Stewart to accompany one of our road-patching gangs for a day.” It would mean he would be able “to see how we go about repairing the carriageway”, he said.

‘Remove your dentures’

Residents fed up with potholes in Carmarthenshire installed a fake road sign last month warning drivers to “adjust bra straps, remove dentures and secure your nuts”.

Locals led by John Burton, 68, stuck up the hilarious sign claiming they are being ignored by the council.

It says: “Caution. Remove dentures. Adjust bra straps. Secure your nuts.

“Welcome to the worst maintained road in the county – courtesy of Carmarthenshire County Council.”

John, who has lived on the road for 13 years, claims that no major refit of the road has been completed in over 40 years.

“We figured that humour is the best way to confront the problem, that’s why we chose to make the sign,” he said.

“Hopefully now with this attention they will finally do something – but we’ve heard nothing yet.”

Cabinet member for transport, waste and infrastructure services, councillor Edward Thomas said the council undertook scheduled highway safety inspections of all roads including this rural road in the Llanfynydd area.

Additional reporting by SWNS.