Locals in Teesside are praising the 'power of the willy' after two potholes were fixed - having said it's all thanks to some penises that had been spray-painted onto the ground to highlight the problem.



Pictures of the potholes - which had apparently been in the road for around a year - had appeared on a Facebook account called Teesside Connected, with a red penis shape and one black one seen surrounding two potholes.

The protestor spray-painted penises around the potholes. Credit: Teesside Connected

In an update, the page later shared a photo from a resident called Brad Nicholson, who had written: "The power of the Willy. Repaired this morning 25-04-2019. Only been there a year, well done Middlesbrough Council."

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Fellow locals praised the, er, unorthodox way of problem solving, with one writing: "Wish I had that idea myself, my area is shocking."

Another commented: "There's gonna be a penis on every pothole now."

Someone else said: "Teesside is gonna be full of willies... Watch this space."

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A third, meanwhile, joked: "Where there's a willy, there's a way."

A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council said: "Middlesbrough, like all local authority areas in the country, has issues with potholes and repairs are carried out on a priority basis determined by the risk they pose to highway users.

"Currently, however, we are carrying out pre-planned works in the Acklam area and staff were able to visit the nearby site on Fane Grove when the matter was reported to us and have patched over the hole."

Of course, this isn't the first incident we've seen artwork based on male genitalia tackle a pothole issue.

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In fact, there's one person who's made it their life's mission, and that's Wanksy - yep, a bit like the famous street artist, Banksy, only... with more penises.

A Wanksy original. Credit: Wanksy

Wanksy uses penises to 'help people', explaining on their website: "Potholes are dangerous. Not only do they wreck vehicles, cause accidents they also injure cyclists and are a danger to pedestrians.

"I highlight dangerous potholes by turning them into temporary works of art, making them more visible and prompting the council to repair them.

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"The council are not too happy, but all my work is created using non-permanent, chalk based line marker, the same type the council use when doing repairs. The problem is that despite each and every vehicle owner in the land paying road tax, fuel tax and council tax, that money does not seem to be being spent on our roads, or at least not effectively."

Another of Wanksy's pieces. Credit: Wanksy

Wanksy doesn't feel the work is offensive, adding: "I am a qualified artist, the naked body and its anatomy are commonplace in art. The drawings themselves are cartoons, not photographs. Art should provoke a reaction and these pieces do that, generally a positive one.



"Potholes are very hard to see you tend to forget about them until it's too late. But draw a big yellow willy round it, you can't help but notice them and hopefully avoid it too, saving the vehicle from damage or the rider from injury. Usually the council will either notice it, or it actually gets reported and then gets repaired. Happy days."