Pothole repairs so “shoddy” some suspected fed-up neighbours had taken matters into their own hands were in fact done by a council contractor.

Around 40 to 50 craters along Kent Avenue, in Shepway, Maidstone were filled in with asphalt on the morning of Saturday, February 4.

But the quality of the work and lack of warning prompted some motorists to speculate that it was the residents themselves taking action.

One lady said: “They arrived in a yellow van on Saturday morning and shut off the road while they worked. The potholes certainly needed doing, they were atrocious.”

Her neighbour described the vehicle as a 3.5 ton open-backed truck. He said: “The men were wearing orange overalls - I assumed they were from the council.”

He was right. Kent County Council (KCC) has since confirmed that the work was done by its “pothole blitz contractor”.

One resident said: “There were certainly very quick. They were only here about an hour - which is perhaps why they’ve done such a shoddy job. Instead of potholes, we’ve now got ridges.

Some of the infills have not been levelled down to the surrounding road surface.

Neighbour Shane Tiplady said: “It was particularly bad on the speed hump. Vehicles tend to dig in there and gouge out the surface. They have done those, but there are still holes on the roundabout.”

He added: “There is a surprising amount of traffic on this road - it’s always busy.”

One bowls player hoped the council would move on to other roads in the area. He said: “When I drive between here and the leisure centre, there are some enormous potholes, some a foot deep. I always wonder how long my car will survive.”

Another lady was pleased to have seen some work done.

She said: “Whenever the council puts out their consultations, I always say, we need the potholes fixing. They do the potholes in some parts of the town, but they always seem to overlook the poorer areas.”

A KCC spokesman said: "People can continue to report potholes via our online fault reporting tool.

"We will always assess potholes as soon as we’re made aware of them and prioritise safety critical fixes."