A RANSOM note demanding two chocolate bars for the safe return of a pothole doll has been dismissed.

Hatty, the latest children’s doll to appear in a pothole over the M4, disappeared earlier today.

A joke ransom note was left taped to a traffic cone. It read: “We have Hatty. If you ever want to see her again we require two Twix bars as payment (leave in pothole) or she returns bit by bit.”

Neville Dayton, the Wroughton dad who has been leaving children’s dolls in the Mill Lane pothole, was belligerent in the face of the threats.

“I do not negotiate with terrorists,” he said. A new doll, Bonnie, has appeared in Hatty's place.

The dolls first appeared in the pothole last month. Neville began the ruse as a way of shining a bit of light on a serious pothole problem.

Last week, the council said that Highways England would be fixing the pothole, which has been fenced off over the winter.

Borough spokesman Kevin Burchall said: “Our action men and women have repaired the pothole several times over the last few months but it keeps reappearing due to a problem with the waterproofing on the motorway bridge.

“We are pleased to report that Highways England, who are responsible for the bridge and the waterproofing, have agreed to fix the underlying issue, hopefully sparing any more dolls from being decapitated."