Latest news with #OddThingsAroundCambridge
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Man, Tired of Dealing with Potholes in His Town, Gets Officials' Attention with Hilarious Eye-Catching Prank
A British man fed up with the condition of a road near his village finally put a foot down — or in this case, legs up. On Sunday, Feb. 23, James Coxall put a pair of fake legs — outfitted with jeans and a pair of colorful sneakers — in a large puddle created by a pothole on Haverhill Road in the Cambridgeshire village of Castle Camps in England, according to the BBC. The 41-year-old carpenter told the outlet that he set up the prank after the gaping crater — one of several potholes on the road — remained unrepaired for eight months. Coxall said that while the road is not busy, drivers would "have to either stop or hit the pothole" if they encountered any oncoming traffic. Related: Arnold Schwarzenegger Fills 'Giant' Potholes Himself, But Officials Say It's an Active Gas Service Trench Deciding to "have a bit of fun" with the frustrating road situation, Coxall, his wife and kids gathered up some old clothes and rags and turned them into a pair of legs clothed in jeans and shoes. "The shoes were going to charity anyway, so we thought we'd give them an outing first," Coxall told the BBC. "We stuffed the jeans with old rags and I used some wood to keep the legs sturdy and upright." He placed the legs in the puddle, with the feet sticking up in the air, using a brick to weigh down his creation. Then, he posted a photo of his prank on the Facebook group, Odd Things Around Cambridge, and another local Haverhill group, quickly earning quite a few likes. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "It's just a bit of fun, and I've had lots of messages about it," Coxall told the BBC. "People seem to like it around here, but then, I am known as a bit of a joker." Coxall's eye-catching stunt eventually paid off, as the Cambridgeshire County Council told the outlet one of its highways officers would come out to inspect the road and "repairs will be made as required." The county also advised residents to utilize its online pothole reporting tool. Read the original article on People
CBC
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
'You've got to have a laugh,' says British man who put fake legs in pothole
James Coxall was driving with his family past a massive pothole in his village for the umpteenth time when he decided he'd had enough. The British man has been either swerving around or barrelling over the massive crater in the Cambridgeshire, U.K., village of Castle Camps for the last eight months. But instead of getting mad about it, he decided to do something silly. With the help of his wife and kids, he built a pair of denim-clad wooden legs and erected them in the middle of the rain-filled hole, giving the appearance of someone falling in, head first. "We just thought that would be the most amusing way to sort of highlight the pothole," Coxall told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "You've got to have a laugh and a joke, haven't you?" Prank pays off The pothole in Haverhill Road, he says, is one of many in Castle Camps, and it's on a road that leads to the nearby town where villagers run their errands. He says he passes it roughly four times a week. According to his own measurements, it's 1.2 metres long, 0.9 metres wide, and 10 centimetres deep. "It is incredibly frustrating driving around on the roads with holes everywhere in them and people's cars getting damaged and your tires getting busted," Coxall said. So on Sunday, he channeled his frustration into a protest/prank. He says it was a family affair. "The kids helped. We drilled in some wood for the legs. We found an old pair of jeans that were going to the charity shop. We put them on. We stuffed it with some rags. And then we screwed a pair of their old shoes on top," he said. "I walked it down there under my arm and the kids went on their bikes. And me, the wife and the kids put it in a pot hole with a brick to sort of weigh it down." Almost immediately, Coxall says, he started getting texts from his neighbours asking if the legs were his handiwork. "A lot of people who know me know that I'm a bit of a joker," he said. He also posted a picture of the legs on a local Facebook group, Odd Things Around Cambridge. His kids, he says, have become school celebrities for their involvement. Their hard work seems to have paid off. Four days after the legs went up, the pothole was filled in. "I can confirm that the pothole in question … was fixed yesterday," Jonathan Kitley, spokesperson for the Cambridge City Council, told CBC in an email. He did not comment on the legs. Coxall says he's pleased to see the pothole fixed. He says the city has filled it in at least once before, but the repairs didn't last long. "It looks pretty good, but we will have to wait and see, won't we, if it survives wind and rain and cars driving over it." he said. "I'm not that confident." His family project, meanwhile, remains intact. "They didn't bury the art," he said. "My wife was driving past and she jumped out of the car and she saved the art off the side of the road." The pothole prankster is already looking around for his next target. There are plenty of potholes in the village to choose from, he says.
