The first hole is the deepest… Sir Rod Stewart fixes road near his home

15th Mar 2022

Sir Rod Stewart swapped his microphone for a spade at the weekend to help fill potholes near his home.

The veteran singer showed some guys have all the muck as he posted videos of himself and his mates fixing a damaged road in Harlow, Essex.

Clips on his Instagram account show him shovelling gravel into large holes while wearing a tracksuit and high-vis vest, complaining that "no-one can be bothered to do it".

Speaking to the camera, the rocker pointed out that there had been several incidents on the road – and also quipped that it was impossible to drive his Ferrari on it.

The 77-year-old captioned the post: “Working for a living, filling holes is good for the soul!”

Sir Rod’s post has attracted more than 88,000 likes and several messages of support from his followers. 

But the RAC has warned against people taking matters into their own hands, not least because they could become liable for accidents.

Head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “As frustrating as pothole riddled roads can be, drivers should not be tempted to repair surfaces themselves.

“Firstly, there are safety risks associated with working in a road. Secondly, local authorities will have their own procedures and standards on how best to repair the road and a DIY job is unlikely to conform to this.

“In addition, taking matters into your own hands could make you liable for any defects and damage that subsequently occurs, both to the road surface and to other vehicles. The best thing drivers can do is to report potholes and other defects to the highways authorities as soon as possible so they can be fixed properly.”

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Sir Rod, who is famous for the hits Maggie May and Sailing, posted two Instagram clips in which he is seen getting to work after growing fed up with the state of his local road.

The first clip shows the singer’s team shovelling gravel before panning out across the road, which is strewn with large puddle-filled holes. 

In a second clip, he says: “People are smashing their cars up. The other day, there was an ambulance with a burst tyre. My Ferrari can’t go through here at all!

“So me and the boys thought we would come and do it ourselves. We are filling the holes while millions and millions of pounds have been spent on the M11.”

A spokesman for Essex County Council said the potholes that the rocker was filmed fixing will be temporarily filled next month and the road resurfaced in July. He also stressed that people should not try to repair potholes themselves.