Ode to a Pothole

Road maintenance campaign website, Potholes.co.uk, has announced the winning entries

in its Pothole Poetry competition.

To emphasise the poor state of Britain's roads, Potholes.co.uk urged motorists to

channel their anger, or simply tell their pothole experience in a novel and creative

way - by submitting a 140-character poem on the topic via Twitter and Potholes.co.uk

Among the three winning entries chosen for their inventive, witty prose, was this

snappy, multi-rhyming effort from Karen Tolhurst, from Kent: 'I hit a pothole, car

went lame, not to blame, made a claim, nothing came, crying shame I hit a pothole.'

Duncan McClure Fisher, managing director of Potholes.co.uk, said: "It may have been

a bit of fun but there's no doubting the level of emotion people are feeling about

the state of our roads."

The other winning scribes, each of whom wins an iPod Touch, were Stuart

Ellison-Smith, from Canterbury, and London's Sean Gibson.

Mr Ellison-Smith's entry read: 'When almost dusk & light turns grey, potholes

greedily grasp their prey. Axles, tyres, paint are theirs, once you've trespassed in

their lairs.'

Meanwhile, Mr Gibson offered this thought-provoking piece: 'It's amazing don't you

think, that you don't have to drive or drink, to test your mettle skill and soul,

you just need one big round pothole'

McClure Fisher added: "It turns out our Potholes.co.uk users are a creative bunch,

and, although some of the entries used terminology not really suitable for

publication on a family website, they certainly gave us a good laugh.

"It's been a light-hearted exercise, but if it highlights once more the problem the

UK has with the state of its roads, and the anguish it genuinely causes drivers, all

the better."

Potholes.co.uk initiated the search after one of the harshest winters in decades

caused the country's already crumbling roads to suffer more terrible damage. Last

year, Potholes.co.uk revealed that the UK's motorists were already paying £1 million

a day repairing damage done to cars by poorly-maintained roads.

To report a pothole, find out how to make a claim or simply share your story, visit

Potholes.co.uk