From folks getting injured to conflicts rising among people, we often hear stories about pranks gone wrong. Today, however, we bring you a story about a prank gone right, or rather, one that worked so well that folks actually praised the prankster.
Carpenter James Coxall was so sick of a large pothole in his village that he built a pair of fake legs and planted them upside down in it. This hilarious puddle-diver went viral and even caught the eye of the officials, turning our guy into a local superhero!
Local carpenter James Coxall turned into a superhero overnight by planting upside-down legs in a pothole that had troubled villagers
He stuffed his 7-year-old daughter’s old jeans with shirts and wooden slabs and completed the look with a pair of shoes
In today’s story, we dive into the life of 41-year-old carpenter James Coxall, who is a resident of the Cambridgeshire village of Castle Camps in England. Just like the rest of the locals of Cambridgeshire, James was sick of the potholes that plagued the area and decided to do something about it.
The thing is, our guy is known as a bit of a joker, so he did what he does best: pulled one of the most hilarious pranks, of course! James took a pair of his 7-year-old daughter’s old jeans and filled it up with old clothes, wooden slabs, and also completed the look with a pair of shoes.
Once the model was ready, he placed it in a way that looked like a small person was “diving” into the pothole with their upside-down legs poking out. He also shared the picture of these legs in Odd Things Around Cambridge and another local Facebook group, and voila, our guy went viral!
People online shared, reshared, and liked the photos of James’ prank, and even BBC wrote an article about it. Turns out that while driving by the pothole, Coxall found the impact to be so bad, he felt that it might damage his car. Coincidently, his 7-year-old daughter had gathered a few clothes for charity when the idea struck James to create the legs.
“The shoes were going to charity anyway, so we thought we’d give them an outing first,” he told BBC. He completed the whole thing within 30 minutes and then walked half a mile to place it in the pothole. He mentioned, “We just thought it would be quite funny, and it would highlight how bad the roads are.”
His “puddle-diver” prank went quite viral and also alerted the officials who were coaxed into taking immediate action
All the razzmatazz of this prank also grabbed the attention of the Cambridgeshire County Council, and their spokesperson Jonathan Kitley said that the council knew about it and would get it fixed. They kept their word and indeed got it fixed, and Coxall’s wife collected the fake legs while the road was being repaired.
When the locals realized that they had one less pothole to worry about now, they all thanked James and sent him messages of gratitude. “They fixed the hole. They just got another several million to do in Cambridgeshire,” Coxall said while he planned on zeroing down on the next pothole that he will target.
The UK pothole crisis has been quite a serious issue for a few years. It has been observed that there are about two million potholes filled in on the UK roads, and it is costing local councils millions of pounds to fix them. James Coxall is not the first England resident to get creative when trying to draw the officials’ eye to the pothole crisis.
In 2023, teenager Ben Thornbury turned the potholes into miniature golf courses, while 66-year-old Tim Webb used these potholes as children’s toy displays. Both these England residents had grabbed the authorities’ attention as well. However, the problem is still prevalent even in 2024, as recently, locals of Wrexham County even resorted to branding their village as Pothole Land.
It has been reported that a new type of asphalt made from biomass waste can mend its own cracks without the need for maintenance or human intervention. Apparently, this self-healing asphalt is said to be the game changer when it comes to England’s pothole crisis.
Well, it looks like till all the potholes disappear, people will keep coming up with creative ways till they grab the officials’ eye. We certainly found James’ strategy quite impressive! What about you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.