Anti-pothole crusader warns drivers to 'adjust bras' (2025)

A frustrated resident has put up cheeky unauthorised road signs to force the council into fixing ‘nightmare’ potholes in his village.

One of the signs Wildhill, Hertfordshire, read: ‘Welcome to Wildhill. Remove all Dentures, tighten your pants, adjust bra strap, secure your nuts.

‘Your FREE village pothole experience courtesy of Hertfordshire County Council.

‘Please drive carefully’.

Another lampooning the state of the roads features a cow with a donut-like hole in its belly, captioned ‘holey cow’.

Locals say the local authority is refusing to repair potholes that are less than two inches deep and a foot wide.

The man behind the signs, who gave his name as ‘Wildhill Whistler’, said: ‘The villagers are rebelling against lazy maintenance.

‘We’re all frustrated, and we’re venting our frustration by putting the signage up.

‘It seems to have caused a bit of an attraction and even some of the stately home owners have applauded it.’

Resident Joanne Moneeb, 44, thinks the signs are a great idea.

‘Everyone’s talking about (them). And it’s drawn attention to the potholes, so it’s worked.’

She added: It’s terrible for drivers here. You are dodging potholes and dealing with oncoming traffic that’s going quite fast at the same time, so it’s a nightmare.’

Another villager, Yvonne Cormack, 68, said: ‘You have to be very careful. Sometimes you just have to stop in front of a pothole because something’s coming the other way.

‘If you didn’t you’d definitely tear your tyres, even if you went into it at a reasonable speed.’

A third local, who asked to remain anonymous, highlighted a particularly bad stretch of road.

He said: ‘It’s really dreadful, and the problem with these roads is they’re rat runs now.

‘Everybody uses this shortcut – their sat navs send them down this way.’

Stephen Giles-Medhurst, highways spokesman for the Liberal Democrat opposition at Hertfordshire County Council, said the county’s potholes were behind 1,000 insurance claims every year.

A council spokesperson said repairs would now be made.
‘We’re planning some pothole repairs in Wildhill to take place in the next couple of weeks,’ they said.

‘But where possible we prefer to carry out planned resurfacing as this is a more cost-effective and long lasting solution.

‘We did resurface part of the road last year, and we are continuing to monitor the condition of the road as we plan our future work programmes.’

They continued: “We aim to make the most significant potholes safe within 24 hours.

‘But the majority of potholes that are big enough to need rapid attention receive a first-time permanent repair either within five days or within 20 days.

‘This depends on factors like the size of the pothole and how busy the road is.

‘Smaller, less urgent potholes are repaired as part of planned road resurfacing.’

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