"Why Aren't the Public Officials Working!"... Ingenious Idea That Got 'Likes' After Leaving Potholes Unrepaired for 8 Months

A British Driver Protests with an Upside-Down 'Fake Leg'
Wears Jeans on a Wooden Pole to Create the Leg
Local Council Responds Immediately: "Repairs Will Be Made If Necessary"

A British man who protested to local officials in charge of road maintenance with a photo of a 'fake human leg' is receiving praise from local netizens.

According to reports from the British public broadcaster BBC and others on the 26th (local time), James Coxall (41), who lives in Cambridgeshire, England, recently filed a complaint with the local council requesting the repair of potholes.

The complaint went unresolved for eight months. Unable to endure any longer, Coxall came up with a clever idea to attract the attention of the officials. He dressed a fake human leg in old jeans and sneakers and installed it upside down in a rainwater-filled pothole.

Fake leg photo taken by James Coxall. YouTube capture.

Coxall, a carpenter, reportedly crafted the leg himself using wooden poles. He dressed both legs in jeans and stuffed them full of rags to give them volume. To stand the structure upside down, he placed bricks at the bottom of the puddle. Coxall posted this photo on social media.

The image, which looked as if a person's lower body was stuck upside down in the pothole, received many 'likes' and shares from British netizens. The viral post soon prompted a response from the Cambridgeshire local council. The council said they would send a police officer to inspect the road and stated, "If necessary, repairs will be made."

Having become an online celebrity with just one photo, Coxall told BBC in an interview, "The pothole had been neglected for too long," adding, "I just thought I'd do something fun with it."

According to Coxall, the road with the pothole was actually a very rarely used area. However, he pointed out, "If a vehicle came from the opposite direction, the driver would have had to brake suddenly or drive into the pothole."

He said he felt frustrated waiting for the complaint to be resolved over eight months, but the motivation for taking the photo was "just for fun," adding, "I received messages from many people. Actually, I am known as a joker."

Meanwhile, a pothole is a cracked and sunken part of the road. It mainly appears during the thawing period from winter to spring. When vehicles pass over cracks in paved roads, the sunken areas gradually widen, and water seeps into these spots, worsening the potholes. Severe potholes can damage vehicle durability and pose a risk of traffic accidents as drivers try to avoid them.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.