A posse of pothole-fixing volunteers in Sidmouth recently completed their 400th road repair – matching almost as many defects fixed around the town by the county council in the same year.
Devon County Council (DCC) heaped praise on the Sidmouth volunteers for their ‘incredible commitment’ to the cause after regularly putting in two-hour shifts to fix some of the smaller potholes found on the town’s residential roads.
The town’s ‘pothole posse’ was driven to tackle repairs after residents raised concerns about the state of Sidmouth’s roads.
In the last 12 months, the volunteers successfully plugged 400 potholes, while the county council repaired around 475 in the Sidmouth area, which included preventative maintenance and larger patching repairs.
Volunteers Gary and Perry are pictured here after fixing a pothole in Cotamaton Road, Sidmouth.
Photo: Sidmouth Town Council.
The volunteer road wardens received £1,747 county council funding to pay for materials and training.
In addition, Sidmouth Town Council environment committee has pledged ‘significant funding’ to continue the repairs for another year.
Councillor Paul Dodds, who pinpointed the areas of Sidmouth where pothole repairs were needed, said: “One of residents’ biggest concerns is the state of our roads, and we know that potholes are both a danger to road safety and cost our residents hundreds of thousands of pounds in vehicle repairs every year.
“So, while the responsibility for repairing our highways sits with our county council, we wanted to see what the town council and community volunteers could do on a local level to improve the situation.”
Among the successful repairs by volunteers were 70 holes in Malden Road and 13 in Harcombe Road. The 400th hole filled was in Primley Road outside Sidmouth College.
Pictured here is Sidmouth Councillor Paul Dodds and the 400th pothole filled since March 2025.
Photo: Sidmouth Town Council.
Councillor Ian Barlow, chair of the town’s council’s environment committee, said: “Roads are not the responsibility of Sidmouth Town Council but we know it is one of the main concerns of Sidmouth residents.
“We have set up this pilot project with Devon County Council support to help tackle the problem at a fraction of the usual costs.”
The county council said minor potholes fixed by volunteer road wardens differed to the safety repairs carried out by its own highways teams.
And while the the ‘real value’ of the town’s help could not be measured financially, it confirmed the volunteers’ early intervention in fixing small potholes prevented them from becoming worse, stopping the need to call on county council road repair teams.
A Devon County Council spokesperson said: “Our thanks go to all of the volunteer community road wardens from the 114 towns and parishes across Devon that are part of this scheme which rolled out across the county 10 years ago.
“The volunteers in Sidmouth have shown incredible commitment in their community.
“Volunteer road wardens don’t replace the work of our highways teams. Devon County Council repairs potholes that are classed as safety defects.”
The spokesman said this financial year DCC is investing more than £40million in highways maintenance, up £6million from the previous year, and more than £115million for preventative and routine maintenance
He said: “Our 8,000-mile road network is the biggest of any authority in the country, and the work of our volunteer road wardens complements our highway maintenance service by enabling communities to deliver their community’s priorities.”
Volunteer road wardens can help with small road repairs, clearing weeds, grass cutting and minor drainage work.
The road wardens receive free training from the county council, pothole repair materials, and third-party liability cover.
