A teenager who turned his pothole-stricken road into a crazy golf course says more than 20 people showed up to play a round.

Ben Thornbury, 18, was so frustrated at the state of the road’s on Malmesbury’s High Street that he created a sign saying “High Street Crazy Potholes Golf” and opened the course to the public.

Now he’s hoping that the attention his cheeky stunt has created, including a huge social media reaction and a visit from a national tabloid, will force the council into taking action.

“I'm really proud it was my idea”, said Ben. “People were playing crazy golf in the middle of the high street while all the cars were coming past.

“Probably more than 20 people turned up - for a small town that’s very good.

“A family had just come into town for the day, they rocked up in the middle of the road and started playing golf with us.

“It’s just been such a rewarding feeling and people have been messaging me saying, ‘You’ve done it again for the community’."

Ben decided to protest the state of the road as part of his work within the local community.

He enjoys volunteering, tackling tasks like street cleaning and hedge trimming, so decided to setup a “Fix Our Potholes Facebook page” when he saw the frustration of locals.

The sixth former added: “The potholes on our High Street have been an issue for a long time now.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: Pothole crazy golf in MalmesburyPothole crazy golf in Malmesbury (Image: SWNS)

“Residents were reporting the potholes but Wiltshire Council was never responding and the potholes weren’t getting filled.

“These potholes don’t do vehicles any good and it’s certainly not a good impression for visitors.”

But Caroline Thomas, cabinet member for transport at Wiltshire Council, confirmed the signs will be removed.

She said: “There has been an increase in the number of potholes across the country, not just in Wiltshire.

"We intend to create heatmaps of the areas with the worst pothole problems, and we will use this data to identify roads in most need.

“We are working hard to tackle the issue, and when there are increases in the number of potholes reported, we deploy additional resources as required.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: A pothole on Malmesbury High StreetA pothole on Malmesbury High Street (Image: Ben Thornbury)

"Deeper potholes require more urgent attention than others, so we prioritise defects based on intervention levels contained within our Highways Inspection Manual.

“The signs that have appeared in Malmesbury will be removed as they could pose a distraction to road users.”

Potholes can be reported through the MyWilts app.