A MYSTERY crusader, who drew widespread attention to the pothole-ridden roads near her home by humorously adjusting road signs, hopes her covert crusade helped bring about a £271,000 resurfacing project.

The idea was to push the county council into carrying out much-needed repairs to one of the Cotswold’s pothole hotspots in Kemble, by poking fun at how bad she felt the roads looked, and changing signs from ‘no road markings’, to ‘no road, just holes’.

The person’s identity remained a secret until this week when resident Angie Abingdon revealed she had been the one responsible, after a major resurfacing program took place in the village.

She said she started adjusting the signs after months of pent-up frustration and under the cover of darkness, went out with her 15-year-old torch-carrying daughter Becca to get to work.

Her campaign drew attention from national newspapers and went viral online but the 53-year-old, kept her identity a secret.

Over the next few weeks she would add three different messages, all in a bid to force action on village roads, particularly the A429.

Angie said she reached boiling point after a huge pothole emerged close to Kemble, which she later saw in the Standard had damaged at least eight vehicles.

She managed to avoid the hole but later her son could not escape it in his new car because of oncoming traffic.

“That was the catalyst,” she said.

“The thing I got most frustrated about was seeing workmen pour some crumbling tarmac in a hole, pat it down with a space and then leave – it would be a pot hole again in days.

“Then there was this sign which said ‘no road markings’. I kept looking at it - and then I started to get a bit creative.

“It was a way to convey a message in a tongue in cheek way.”

After the success of her first sign, the mother struck again, labelling one sign “third world roads ahead”. The community even got involved, with one resident stopping to patch the message back on the sign after it had fallen off.

Angie said it felt like a “community uprising” and she hopes it contributed to the council’s decision to resurface the whole road, a 13-day project due to end this week.

But Angie stayed tight-lipped about her crusade. She told the Standard she “just kept quiet and smiled” as speculation grew but admitted it was “quite satisfying”.

She decided to come forward after the county council announced it had found an extra £1m in its budget for road repairs. She added that the newly resurfaced road was “wonderful”.

Gloucestershire County Council has come under fire over the past few months for the state of the A429 in Kemble, with some calling it “third world”.

Cllr Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The county’s roads are a priority for us and we’re working hard to improve them. We’ve put an extra £2m into road repairs this year – and it’s great to see that it’s starting to make a difference. This resurfacing scheme has been planned for a while, and isn’t linked to the changed sign.”

Cotswold Lib Dem leader Joe Harris, who has started a petition to improve roads in the area, said: “It’s a serious issue but its great we can find a little bit of humour to bring attention to it. I think it sends a direct message to the administration.”

To sign the petition go to joe-harris.co.uk/fix_our_roads.