A man from Sussex has been waging war on his council in the most unusual way – by planting flowers in potholes.
Harry Smith-Haggett has been planting the greenery in the roads of Horsham to draw the council’s attention to their ‘hideous’ state.
The landscape gardener has been posting his vigilante work on TikTok, with one of his videos going viral and raking in 2.7million views.
But West Sussex County Council (WSCC) has urged people not to go on the roads for safety reasons and said people ‘risk their lives’ by going onto highways.
The authority, which currently spends 6.7 per cent of its budget on highways and transport, said it understands ‘frustrations’ and has increased resources to tackle potholes.
Harry Smith-Haggett has been planting the greenery in the roads of Horsham to draw the council’s attention to their ‘hideous’ state
The landscape gardener has been posting his vigilante work on TikTok , with one of his videos going viral and raking in 2.7million views
Mr Smith-Haggett said he started filling potholes with flowers because he ‘was just fed up’ with the state of the roads
Mr Smith-Haggett said he started filling potholes with flowers because he ‘was just fed up’ with the state of the roads.
He told the BBC: ‘There’s people that have been complaining about the potholes in Horsham for years.
‘I just thought I’d bring a bit of joy and at the moment it seems to be working.’
The community activist said several of the potholes he had planted flowers in had now been fixed.
He claims he wanted to work out a way of drawing attention to the potholes ‘without being dangerous or without causing a problem’.
When filling in the holes Mr Smith-Haggett wears a customised pink hi-vis vest which reads ‘Pretty Pot Holes’ on the back.
One of the videos shows Mr Smith-Haggett covering seven potholes on a single street in the colourful floral displays.
The videos have proven popular online with dozens commenting to hand out tips and praise his work
In another of his videos, Mr Smith-Haggett is seen dumping buckets of what he describes as ‘premium topsoil’ inside potholes, then using the trowel to evenly distribute the earth across the hole.
He then takes out a plant, commenting: ‘I don’t know what this plant’s called, but it is a beauty whatever we are working with there.
After packing the flower pot into the potholes newly acquired soil, he says ‘that will allow our roots to sprout out nicely in there I think.’
The videos have proven popular online with dozens commenting to praise his work, or encourage him to come to their area next.
Some commentators also dished out gardening tips so he could ensure his plants take root more easily in their new pothole home.
A WSCC spokesperson said: ‘We take the maintenance and repair of roads in West Sussex very seriously and we have increased our resources to tackle potholes and improve road conditions.’
The council announced recently its 2023/24 budget will increase council taxes by 4.99 per cent per year, with costs set to reach £1,633 for the average Band D property.