'Vigilante' plants flowers in potholes

A self-styled "pothole vigilante" from Horsham has become a social media star by planting flowers in damaged roads across West Sussex.

Landscape gardener Harry Smith-Hagget has been filling potholes with bright primroses, before filming the results and posting the clips online.

Several of his videos have gone viral and reportedly led to a number of repairs being carried out.

"It's just not good enough," he said. "You pay money to drive on the roads and they aren't fit for your car."

Smith-Hagget added that the damage caused by potholes can also be very costly for drivers.

"Rims are getting destroyed, leaving people needing to replace tyres," he said.

"One of my friends had to have new three tyres in the last month."

Over the past fortnight, around a dozen of the "landscaped" potholes uploaded online have since been filled by the council, while others have not remained that way for long.

"I've had some which have lasted two or three days, and some just 10 minutes," said Smith-Hagget.

"And hopefully (my videos) also make people smile."

But West Sussex County Council said Smith-Hagget's campaign is not safe and insisted crews are working hard to repair roads after a winter of severe weather.

The authority said it has fixed nearly 7,000 potholes since the start of the year, with 22 crews working extra hours.

With around 2,500 miles of roads to maintain, it added that it must prioritise the most serious defects.

Residents can also report potholes online and upload photos via the council website, it said.

Meanwhile, Horsham-based software company, Metricell, has developed a smartphone app that can map road damage quickly and efficiently.

Called Stan, it has just been approved by the Department for Transport, which is encouraging local authorities to use tech just like it.

Users can photograph potholes directly or mount their phone in the car and let the app detect cracks and potholes automatically while they drive.

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