Meet the man shining a light on Sussex town's pothole plight as videos go viral on social media

Harry Smith-Haggett, 24, has been documenting his efforts to fill potholes with plants, primarily primroses, in videos that have amassed millions of views. The self-employed landscaper says his initiative is driven by frustration at what he sees as a slow response from local authorities.

“I was sick of potholes,” Harry told the West Sussex County Times, while planting on Orchard Road.

“There was one just by my house in Horsham that I was absolutely fed up with, so I thought what can I do that's not illegal and that will make people smile.

"I decided to plant some plants in it and then the journey began. I’ve been going ever since. Thousands and thousands of followers later, millions of views later and some potholes tarmacked, we're on to a winner.”

Harry explained that while he initially started the project to make himself feel better, he quickly realised it had a practical impact.

“The one on Blackbridge Lane the other day, about 100 cars went past while I stood there,” he said. “That’s 100 cars I’ve saved in that small amount of time.

"I don't regard myself as someone high up or any of this but people are looking at me like I'm a celebrity, like I'm a hero. I'm walking into Tesco and people are calling me a hero and it feels very rewarding knowing that people actually like what you're doing and you know that you're making a difference.

"I've had potholes tarmacked – there was a hole I planted, now there's not.”

Despite the local acclaim, Harry has had no contact with the council about his project.

He added: “I’m embarrassing them. I’ve got ITV and GB News coming to my hometown and showing how bad the potholes are. West Sussex County Council, they don’t want to hear that.”

Harry is clear that his work is meant to help the community rather than gain fame.

“Honestly and humbly, I just want to make people smile. It’s a negative situation and I’m shining a bit of light on it.”

Residents welcome the initiative

Local residents have welcomed Harry’s efforts, highlighting long-standing concerns about road safety.

Sue Martin, who lives on Orchard Road, said: “It’s always a problem, they seem to come out every single year, fill up the holes and literally within 12-18 months later they’re back doing the same. My husband finds it terrible to come down here in the car, as I’m sure lots of other people do

"As much as the flowers are absolutely lovely, they just get squished or someone comes and digs them up. It’s a complete pain but you’ve got Harry here doing some incredible work on social media.

"I think he does a brilliant job, I love it.”

Melissa Woodason, who lives just off Orchard Road, added: “I drive on it multiple times a day, and just the bumping up and down the road, it feels horrible.

"You’re not looking properly ahead because you’re just looking down at the road because there’s just so many potholes. There’s definite safety concerns there.”

On Harry’s social media videos, Melissa added: “My sons love it as well, when they see the flowers, I think it’s great. It just brings good attention to the potholes.”

Council response

West Sussex County Council emphasised that repairs are ongoing and prioritised based on severity, not public attention.

A spokesperson said: “In February we carried out over 3,700 pothole repairs across the county, in addition to the 3,095 we fixed in January. Recent heavy and persistent rainfall has led to a rise in the formation of new potholes. We are repairing these as fast as we can with 22 crews working on reactive repairs, with extended hours into evenings and weekends to increase capacity.

“We prioritise pothole repairs based on their severity and subsequent safety risk – not on the level of awareness around them. When people report a pothole via our online form, we allocate them a category between one and four, based on severity. The most severe potholes, classified as category one, are deemed the highest priority and will take precedence for fixing over those in categories two to four. The severity of the pothole is the aspect that determines the timeframe in which it will be fixed. Our road network is 2,500 miles long so prioritising is essential.

“Our target for the least severe (category four) defects is to complete repairs within 28 days but we always work to deliver them sooner where possible. For example, in January these repairs were completed in an average of just 14 days.

“During continuous wet weather, we have to change our method of fixing potholes. Where a pothole presents a safety risk to road users, a temporary repair will be undertaken to make it safe. Once the weather improves, then a full ‘sides sawn and sealed’ repair will be made.

“We ask residents to report potholes via our online form and to leave the repairs to our highways teams so as not to endanger themselves on busy roads.”

Find the online form at: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-pothole-online/

The council does not allocate a set amount of funding for road safety defects to individual districts – it is used where needed.