Teenager, 18, fed up with potholes in his town creates a crazy golf course around them

Tired of the potholes in his town, a teenager turned the craters into a miniature golf course to get the attention of his congregation.

Ben Thornbury, 18, mocked a sign and opened the track in the middle of Malmesbury, Wiltshire, last Friday.

Mr Thornbury created a sign reading ‘High Street Crazy Potholes Golf Now Open’ and set up the course with mini traffic cones.

He said more than 20 residents showed up to try it and hoped it would force the council to take action.

Mr Thornbury said he was ‘really proud’ of the idea and the town’s appreciation was a ‘rewarding feeling’.

He said: ‘I’m really proud that it was my idea. People played miniature golf in the middle of the main street as all the cars drove by.

“Probably more than 20 people showed up. For a small town, that’s very good. A family had just come to town, they swing in the middle of the road and started playing golf with us.

“It’s just been such a rewarding feeling and people have been messaging me saying, ‘You’ve done it for the community again.’

Mr. Thornbury likes to spend his free time volunteering for projects in his area, taking on tasks such as cleaning the streets and trimming overgrown hedges.

Realizing how much the city’s potholes affected residents, he decided to turn his hand to protest.

He posted about his idea on Facebook and as the likes started pouring in, locals started showing up.

Ben said, “The potholes in town have been a big problem for months. Residents complain on Facebook that all roads and the main street are full of them.

“We reported it and had no response from the municipality and now people are fed up with nothing being done about it.

Mr Thornbury enjoys spending his free time volunteering for projects in his area, taking on tasks such as cleaning the streets and trimming overgrown hedges

‘During my community service I had a number of plates that I didn’t use. I mocked up a design on my phone for a road sign that read “crazy pothole golf” and that’s how it all came about.

“People thought it was a brilliant idea and said it was about time someone did something about it to raise awareness.

“The municipality may not respond to a letter, but I hoped that with a bit of humor they would immediately attract attention.”

Caroline Thomas, cabinet member of the Wiltshire Council for Transport, said: ‘There has been an increase in the number of potholes across the country, not just Wiltshire.

‘Due to the combination of a long dry summer, followed by periods of very wet weather and then frost, the road surface deteriorated very quickly in some cases.

‘Malmesbury High Street is unfortunately an example of this. It was surveyed and approved in 2022, but reports from residents and businesses this year and a site visit this week illustrate the rapidly deteriorating conditions.

“We recently received an additional £3.6 million from the Department for Transport’s Pothole Fund.

“The additional funding will support the hard work undertaken this winter to address the massive increase in potholes across the country.

“In January we saw a quadrupling of the number of pothole reports compared to December and over the 2022/23 financial year, based on past experience, we spent 50% more on repairs than budgeted.

“We encourage anyone concerned about road defects and potholes to report them to us through MyWilts – either through our website or through the smartphone app.”