Sir Rod Stewart, 77, has been embroiled in neighbourhood drama after his local council began repairs on potholed roads near his Harlow home. The rock legend was previously filmed filling the holes himself with a shovel and wearing a high vis jacket.
In a clip shared to his 1.1 million Instagram followers, Rod said he had taken it upon himself to try and repair the road because “no one else could be bothered to do it”.
Following Rod’s video, Essex Highways urged locals not to undertake their own DIY repairs and later confirmed that they had inspected Rod’s road and had taken measures to fix it.
A spokesperson for Essex County Council said “patching work” had been done in April and the road will be resurfaced in July, as reported by the BBC.
However, many Harlow residents are furious that their roads remain filled with annoying potholes.
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User Carry On 90s fumed on Twitter: “Why did it take a Knight to draw attention to the country’s roads?”
Wayne echoed: “Shame it took the actions of a rock star to shame the council into doing the work.”
While Bob quipped: “Perhaps everyone should get a bag of readymix and stick it on Twitter and then all our roads will be resurfaced!!!”
Mark questioned: “Is this how work gets authorised now via social media?? What about regular inspections by district councils also?? Rectory Lane in Loughton has more holes than the moon!”
Daniel tweeted a photograph of several deep holes in his road and said: ”Whilst they are there, may as well fix this which is around the corner to Rod… I thought it was the start of a new Lido I hadn’t heard about.”
In response to the claims, an Essex Highways spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “In February a permit was agreed for patching this road in April which has now been completed. This is ahead of the resurfacing which is currently scheduled for July. The narrow width of this road means a road closure is required, and this takes time to plan around the different roadworks being undertaken by utility companies and other factors.”
Essex Highways’ pothole webpage states that authorities “carry out regular inspections” and “risk assess” to prioritise when roads get repaired.
It adds: “The timescale for the repair depends on the risk assessment and which type of road the pothole is on.”
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Rod’s original video, posted in March, went viral and has amassed more than 90,000 likes from users.
As the rock star filled the hole with his friends, he said: “I’m repairing the street where I live because no one else can be bothered to do it.
“This is the state of the road near where I live in Harlow.
“People are bashing their cars up.
“The other day, there was an ambulance with a burst tyre
“My Ferrari can’t go through here at all.'”
Following the clip, a spokesperson for Essex Highways said: “Whilst we appreciate Sir Rod’s commitment to improving his community, we would discourage anyone from doing work on the roads themselves.
“Without proper traffic management and other specific safety measures, residents are putting themselves at risk.”
