Furious locals have hailed the ‘vigilante hero’ who filled the ‘biggest pothole in Cornwall’ to reopen a road that had been closed for a month.
The ghost pothole filler poured concrete into a 10ft-wide crater that had closed a road near Lostwithiel, Cornwall, since early April and removed signs and barriers blocking it to allow cars to pass.
But the municipal road chiefs returned and left concrete blocks on the other side of the road claiming that the work had been carried out “by persons unknown, without consent” and urged the local community to identify the person responsible.
But residents vowed never to give him up, amid concerns he could be charged with criminal damage, instead comparing the man to a modern-day Robin Hood.
Nicky Paull, 67, said: “I know who it is, it’s really cool what they did.” They did it out of the goodness of his heart because the road closure was badly affecting the local people.
Angry locals have hailed the ‘vigilante hero’ who filled the ‘biggest pothole in Cornwall’ (pictured) to reopen a road that had been closed for a month.
The work was carried out in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, as the mysterious volunteer decided to repair the road which has been closed since April.
‘I’m intrigued why they want to know who fixed it – is finding them a good use of public money?
“It’s really disappointing that no one has come out to fix it yet when the road has been closed for over a month.
“We have vacation cabins here and it makes it much harder for people to find us. Directions were already difficult, but now we have to explain how to go several extra miles.”
Last Sunday, local residents saw someone with a truck parked next to the closed road, others heard work in the distance and hours later the road was reopened.
One quipped: “Maybe Rod Stewart is here on vacation.”
Last year, musician Sir Rod, 78, helped fill potholes near his home in Harlow, Essex, after claiming “nobody can be bothered to do it”.
Another who compared the fixer was a Cornish Piskie, a mythical creature from local folklore similar to a pixie in appearance and said to bring good luck and help people.
Since the road was closed in early April, a number of residents have been deprived of important services such as postal deliveries and rubbish collection, despite Lostwithiel being only a mile away.
Roger Mildren, 78, said: ‘The person who filled it in is a hero.
‘Look at the terrible situation I’ve been in: I haven’t had a garbage collection since this started and I get mail once every two weeks.
‘My wife died on May 5 and I have not had any of the documents I need for that, nor did I receive a letter telling me that I had an appointment for bowel cancer surgery.
A local joked that Rod Stewart was “here on vacation.” Last year, musician Sir Rod, 78, helped fill potholes near his home in Harlow, Essex, after saying “no one can be bothered to do it.”
‘I have to take a five-mile detour to the town a mile away. It just made everything more difficult.
‘The council has been nothing but evasive about when they were going to do it.
“When I saw the signs had been removed I thought ‘great, the council has finally done something about it’ but all they seem to want to do is punish the person who did the work for them.”
A local farmer, who did not want to be named, said the road closure meant he could not access several of his own fields for months.
He said: ‘I think it’s terrible that something as small as a pothole hasn’t been fixed; the council wants to leave it like this for three months. How can they think that’s okay?
‘Whoever did it did a good job and did all their neighbors a favour.
“I’m proud of whoever did it, they embody the true Cornish spirit – if the people who are supposed to do something don’t do it, we’ll do it ourselves.”
The road is now scheduled to be closed until June 9 as Cornwall Council road repair company Cormac says it does not intend to repair it again until it has caught up with a backlog of repairs from potholes.
Local resident Graham Dawson, 67, said: “First it would be fixed at the end of April, then in May, now I’m not even sure it’s ready for July.”
“We always go shopping in Bodmin, so this affects us and the people who take their children to school are also suffering.
Rishi Sunak (pictured) vowed to clamp down on potholes at the launch of the conservative local election campaign last month.
“The council says it’s too risky to keep it open, but other nearby roads are clogged so drivers are getting impatient and pushing out – it’s creating a riskier situation than just leaving it open.”
“I think there’s definitely an element of going after this person for revenge because they made the council look bad.”
Rishi Sunak vowed to clamp down on potholes at the launch of the Conservative local election campaign last month and posed for photographs on a dilapidated road in Darlington, Co Durham. The prime minister said the new powers would help ensure companies repair roads properly after work is done, through more fines and inspections.
A council spokesman said: ‘There is an ongoing problem with drainage at this site which has led to deterioration of the road surface. These drainage issues have meant that any resurfacing over the winter has been temporary.
‘As we are now moving into a warmer and drier climate, Cormac [the maintenance company] can schedule permanent drainage and surface repairs needed at this site.’