Scaffolder Dermot McGeough, 43, say he has repaired 570 road potholes in North Devon over the last four years, and claims he’s saved the taxpayer more than £100,000
A tradesman claims he has fixed nearly 600 potholes – claiming he’s saved the taxpayer more than £100,000.
Scaffolder Dermot McGeough, 43, said he has repaired 570 road cavities in North Devon over the last four years. The scaffolder fixes the potholes voluntarily and free of charge and has calculated he has saved the public of Appledore, Northam & Westward Ho! £107,730 and counting.
Dermot, a Conservative county councillor for Northam, said: “It has been a personal challenge. I wanted to do something about the pothole nightmare in our area, and I took a hands on approach.
“I could go to the council whining about it and waiting for something to get done – or I can be pragmatic and things things done myself. I get fed up seeing a pothole and think crying out loud just fill it! I don’t mind getting my hands dirty!”
Dermot, who grew up in Northam, has taken it upon himself to improve his local area. His mission began four years ago, when he first got elected – when he started cleaning road signs.
He explained: “When I first got elected, I got so fed up with state of the roads locally that I started off by cleaning road signs because there’s no money to clean them. So I did it myself.
“But the council said I had to stop that work or they would take me to court – because I wasn’t ‘qualified to clean a sign’. So I got the qualification I needed, then wait straight back out cleaning them.”
Shortly after, Dermot started using his Fridays to tackle potholes on his own – voluntarily and free of charge. He calculated the money he has saved the public by working out how much a typical contractor is paid to fix one pothole.
He said: “A contractor gets paid on average £189 to repair one pothole. So I have multiplied that by how many potholes I’ve taken it upon myself to fix.
“That means I’ve saved £107,730 – but that is not even including my time!” As Dermot grew up in the local area he represents, he explains how he has taken the pothole problem “personally” because he desperately “wants to improve the area”.
His enthusiasm to help even saw himself and his seven-year-old son repair two potholes on Christmas Eve. Dermot explained: “I am trying to limit the damages to vehicles and am doing my bit for the community.
“It’s about trying to save people an added expense.” The father-of-one added: “We pay all this money for council tax – and what do you get from it!
“Many of the potholes I’m repairing temporarily ‘doesn’t meet the criteria’ to be fixed. A lot of them are on the proposed scheme to be repaired – which is a load of rubbish.
“It really means ‘once it gets really bad we’ll do something’ – but it’s only going to get worse.” Dermot hopes the money he has saved the taxpayer will be reinvested back into his local community.
He explained: “I believe in critical thinking and real positive change – there is a positive opportunity here to give back to our community.” A Devon County Council spokesperson said: “Councillor McGeough is one of Devon County Council’s Community Road Wardens, volunteering on behalf of Northam Town Council.
“Our thanks go to all of the volunteer road wardens from the 114 towns and parishes that have signed up to the scheme, for their dedication and commitment in their local communities.
“Devon has an 8,000-mile road network, the biggest of any authority in the country, and the work of the road wardens complements our highway maintenance service by enabling communities to deliver their own priority needs.
“Devon County Council still repairs larger potholes that are classed as safety defects – and we’ve added an extra £4 million to our highways budget for 2025/26.
“Volunteer road wardens can carry out a range of duties including minor work such as weed clearance, grass cutting, sign cleaning, small drainage work, as well as small road repairs on minor roads before they develop into safety defects which our highways teams repair.
“All volunteer road wardens receive free Chapter 8 training from the County Council, which teaches them how to create a safe environment for highway work.
“We also provide Road Wardens with third party liability cover for properly completed volunteer work and a simple-to-use pothole repair material. Road Wardens act as an important point of contact between their town or parish and the County Council’s local Neighbourhood Highway Officers.”
