Now this guy deserves a gold medal for ingenuity.

One vigilante in Manchester who has had too much with the state of the roads has come up with a novel way to force the councils hand and make them fill in the potholes - by spray-painting penises and other 'obscene' imagery around them.

The 'artist', who has taken the name 'Wanksy' for his own, took to spraying around the potholes to 'attract attention to the pothole and make it memorable. Nothing seemed to do this better than a giant comedy phallus. It’s also speedy, I don’t want to be in the road for a long time. It seems to have become my signature. I just want to make people smile and draw attention to the problem' according to the Manchester Evening News.

Local councilors aren't seeing the funny side of the situation however, and have said that the 'actions of this individual are not only stupid but incredibly insulting'. They've also pointed out that the money they spend on getting the spray paint removed is money they then don't have to fill in the potholes. Something that 'Wanksy' appears to have noted himself, telling i100: 'They don’t always get filled, in fact, I think the council maybe deliberately not filling them in now.'

Either way, this has to be the best way of highlighting a public works problem. Maybe we should start doing this with all the abandoned buildings in the country.

Images via Facebook