POTHOLES are usually no laughing matter in Witney but one creative way at tackling the issue has sparked a few smiles across town.

A giant pothole was successfully fixed in apparently record time after one mystery resident set up a thoughtful warning for drivers, alerting them of the deep crevice in Newland just outside the town centre.

An orange cone had been placed right next to the hole, with a cardboard arrow shaped sign pointing down at it.

And the clever tactic worked, as a team from Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) was spotted fixing the dangerous piece of road at the weekend.

Town and district councillor for Witney East Duncan Enright lives in Newland, and said the pothole in question was "a shocker".

He said: "I knew all about this particular pothole as I live right there. I didn't put the sign there, but good for whoever did for putting it up. It really was a shocker.

"I think it was caused by developers putting pipes in somewhere and this bit of road collapsed in.

"It's interesting really. Because of all the fuss people are making about potholes in Witney, there's a big of a push on them.

"You might not be able to get the council to say this but they've said that Witney is probably the worst place in the country for potholes."

Several months ago Mr Enright laced up his trainers and ran around Witney, counting more than 50 potholes as he went, in a bid to highlight the serious state of the roads.

Driver and cyclist Paul Elliott from Deer Park, Witney said he thought the orange cone in the road was a "quite amusing" way of tackling the situation.

He admitted he has complained to the county council multiple times this year about potholes on the A40 and in Corn Street and was pleased to see this one had been fixed.

At the beginning of this year it was revealed OCC, spent £11m on road repairs in 2014/15 - up from £4.6m in the previous financial year.

It also spent £4.2m patching potholes, up from £3.8m, according to figures released by the Institute of Advance Motorists.

Spokesman for OCC Martin Crabtree said: "The county council has an ongoing programme of pothole repairs, patching and resurfacing. We assess each pothole and defect and prioritise repairs according to the same criteria across Oxfordshire, so nothing different is happening in Witney.

"The best way to report potholes and other problems on the roads is to use the Fix My Street website. This is a quick and easy way to report problems direct to us so that we can inspect and take appropriate action."