Buckinghamshire woman goes viral after launching Baywatch-inspired pothole campaign

Julia Roberts from Amersham, has attracted thousands of likes on her Instagram account that can be found here, for her humorous look at the potholes plaguing roads across Buckinghamshire.

In one of her pinned videos on the social media account (@juliaroberts007), Julia dons a wetsuit reminiscent of the outfits worn on the infamous 90s television show Baywatch, to highlight just how deep some of the puddles in road defects have become in parts of Buckinghamshire. That video alone has attracted over 23,000 likes at the time of writing.

Other videos on her Instagram profile criticise repair work undertaken on individual roads in Buckinghamshire, which she claims, have eroded just days after being resurfaced.

Julia says that she is in the process of arranging meetings with officials from Bucks Council regarding the state of local roads.

Bucks Council says it shares residents’ frustrations regarding potholes and notes that England has endured one of the wettest Januarys on record. It adds that the combination of downpours and freezing conditions has caused an increase in defects on roads across the country.

Other popular videos on Julia’s page include her pretending to fish in a deep pothole that has collected significant amounts of water. However, Julia says although she is poking fun at Bucks’ pothole problems. She does consider it a serious issue, she writes: “I am using humour to highlight a very serious problem with our roads, but please do not think I am not working to try and make a difference going forward. This is only the beginning.”

Councillor Thomas Broom said to The Daily Mail: “We completely understand the frustrations felt by residents about potholes. As is evident in these videos, we have seen what the Met Office has confirmed as one the wettest Januarys on record.

“The whole country is seeing a rapid increase in defects emerging and escalating as a result of the persistent rain and freezing temperatures. Prolonged saturation weakens the road surface and sub‑surface layers, meaning defects can form very quickly, particularly on roads that have had previous repairs or utility works.

“We are working round the clock, having increased the number of repair crews on the network by 50%, prioritising emergencies and urgent safety critical repairs. We have already completed 2,000 urgent repairs this year, that's a defect repaired every 20 minutes, 24/7 in January.

“Residents should be aware that a permanent fix is often very difficult in wet and cold conditions, with more expensive repairs likely to fail just as quickly as temporary fixes. That's why residents will see a lot of temporary repairs until weather allows for a more long-lasting repair, when it will last.

"Despite the government cutting £44.5 million of funding from Buckinghamshire, we are delivering on our commitment to a £120 million road programme, focussing on long term investment in the network.

“The budget currently being proposed includes a 17% uplift in capital funding for roads, giving us the resource we need to increase resurfacing works. We will deliver 220 capital resurfacing schemes this financial year and are planning to ramp that up to 270 schemes next year.”