A Crewe taxi driver parked rubber ducks in a pothole — and the BBC came

A taxi driver and local business owner wanted more attention on 'horrendous' road conditions — and more residents reporting potholes to the council.

Float rubber ducks in a water-filled pothole to make it 'look more pretty' — deadpan comedy that makes everyone look at a road defect twice.

Tench posted several videos of road defects online, including one of him lying inside a large pothole 'to make it a little bit funny', and put three toy ducks into one of Crewe's water-filled potholes, saying on Facebook that the ducks 'were having the time of their lives'.

BBC Stoke & Staffordshire covered the protest; Tench said the videos brought the community together, and Cheshire East Council scheduled extra repair works in February and March before main resurfacing programmes later in the year.

A man has filled a pothole with rubber ducks in a bid to bring more attention to 'horrendous' road conditions in Crewe. Shaine Tench, a taxi driver and local business owner, put three toy ducks into one of the town's water-filled potholes to make them 'look more pretty' and reported that the ducks 'were having the time of their lives'.

The ducks were one item in a larger one-man campaign: Tench posted several videos of road defects in the area, including one of himself lying down inside a large pothole. 'I just laid down in a pothole and made it a little bit funny,' he told the BBC, describing how he started filming after hearing from people about the roads.

Cheshire East Council said it aimed to complete permanent repairs but that bad weather sometimes forced quick temporary fixes, urged residents to report potholes through its website, and said extra works were being completed in February and March ahead of main road surfacing programmes later in the year. Tench's verdict: the more people talk about — and report — the issue, the better the town's chances of getting potholes fixed.

The ducks are legible in one second on a feed — a visual punchline that carries the complaint without a single line of text.

A resident's deadpan stunt earns coverage an official complaint never would: the BBC report became the town's press release.

Every share recruits another reporter of potholes, which is the specific action the council says gets repairs scheduled.

Absurdist prop comedy is the cheapest PR a civic complaint can buy: make the problem photogenic and the press writes the petition for you.

As of the BBC's February 17, 2026 report, Tench's videos had helped rally the community around reporting potholes, with the council committing to extra interim works ahead of full resurfacing later in the year.