Bucks woman urges council to sort “dangerous” potholes through viral social media videos
Julia Roberts created a Baywatch inspired post, dressing up as a lifeguard
A woman from Buckinghamshire says she's urging the County Council to sort the "dangerous" state of our roads, through viral social media videos.
Julia Roberts from Great Kingshill created a Baywatch inspired post, dressing up as a lifeguard to 'keep our flooded and crater strewn roads safe’.
In another video, she even pretended to catch a fish from a pothole.
“All I was trying to do was approach it with a humorous angle, because to be honest, there isn't any other way you can do this now. I mean, it's just so ridiculous”, she said.
Ms Roberts says that whilst the videos are light-hearted, it's a very serious issue that’s needs to be fixed urgently.
“If you hit one of these deep potholes at force on a motorcycle, that could be fatal. It really could and it's a matter of time before this happens.
She adds, “Our roads have been neglected year on year, on year. That is why now our roads are in the state that they're in.”
“I don't know why they're bothering to do these shoddy repairs. It doesn't help.
“Actually, because it's lasting two, three days in some cases, it's just shedding the loose shale all over the road, which adds a further hazard for drivers, walkers, and everyone else to have to deal with.
“There is no point in doing repairs in repairs that don't work. There has to be a better solution than throwing good money away on bad repairs that don't work”.
Thomas Broom, Buckinghamshire Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "I completely understand residents’ frustrations with potholes.
"After the wettest start to the year on record, the whole country is seeing a rapid increase in potholes and other road defects, and Buckinghamshire is not immune from this, despite our ongoing heavy investment in bringing our roads up to scratch.
Adding: "To respond to this, we’ve put into place our severe winter plan – we’ve increased the number of repair crews by 50%, with 23 teams working full‑time — including out of hours for emergencies and urgent safety critical repairs — to keep up with demand.
"We operate on a strict safety‑first basis, so the most hazardous potholes are fixed first, and we’ve already completed almost 2,000 urgent repairs this year.
"Residents should be aware that a permanent fix is very difficult in wet and cold conditions, so many of these are what is known as a temporary “plug”. Rest assured, any temporary repairs will receive a proper fix when the weather allows, either as a patch or as part of our summer major road resurfacing programme."