January 25, 2022 4.13 pm This story is over 40 months old

Bugsy Pothole: Holes in Lincolnshire roads decorated by locals to look like bugs

The Facebook group has earned huge popularity

Numerous potholes at Spilsby Airfield have been decorated to look like bugs by a protest group. | Photo: Karan Chapman Holland
By Local Democracy Reporter

A ‘street artist’ in Lincolnshire who has spent the past two years decorating potholes to make them look like bugs in an act of defiance has set out on a new mission, flagging up craters on an airfield near to her house.

Karan Chapman Holland, a founding member of artistic protest group Bugsy Pothole on Facebook, went to Spilsby Airfield on Tuesday, January 25 to highlight the number of potholes in the area.

Bugsy Pothole invites people to “draw the council’s attention” to potholes by spray painting around the hole and creating a bug shape.

The group was created in February 2020 and has amassed more than 2,100 members in that time, setting out on a mission to “bug these councils into action”.

Bugsy Pothole has been running since 2020, putting pressure on councils to fill in potholes across Lincolnshire. | Photo: Karan Chapman Holland

Karan says she started the Bugsy Pothole group in 2020 following an incident which saw her drive into a pothole full of water, causing her car tyre to burst.

“I started it after hitting a pothole two years ago and decided to take revenge with spray paint”, Karan told The Lincolnite.

She said she couldn’t believe how quickly the group took off in popularity, but is just glad a light is being shone on the pothole issues in Lincolnshire.

“It was a shock to me, we were in The Sunday Times a few months ago and have regularly been on national news.

“It’s important to me because we have got a serious problem in Lincolnshire with potholes.”

Karan says the council track her progress and have filled in the potholes weeks after she sprays them. | Photo: Karan Chapman Holland

Upon visiting the Steeping Aerodrome on Tuesday, otherwise known as Spilsby Airfield, Karan noticed the size and severity of the potholes and made sure to mark them out in the only way she knows how at this stage, turning them into bugs.

She says there were more to spray, but ran out of paint and will be heading back there to highlight the issues on Wednesday.

Lincolnshire County Council invite members of the public to report potholes via the council website.