Rod Stewart criticised by local authorities for filling in potholes near his home

Despite receiving praise from around the world after he got down and dirty with a shovel and some gravel to fix potholes near his home, authorities were less than impressed with Sir Rod Stewart.

Donning his finest high-vis vest, the legendary rocker filmed himself shovelling grit from a lorry into a large number of potholes after an ambulance had a burst tyre and other cars were “bashing their cars up” due to the damaged road.

Speaking to the camera, he said: "I'm repairing the street where I live as no one can be bothered to do it."

The 'Maggie May' hitmaker then added: "This is the state of the road near where I live in Harlow and it’s been like this for ages. People are bashing their cars up. The other day, there was an ambulance with a burst tyre. My Ferrari can't go through here at all.

"So me and the boys thought we would come and do it ourselves. We are filling the holes while millions and millions of pounds have been spent on the M11."

However, a statement released by Essex Highway criticised the 77-year-old's actions.

"While we would like to prioritise repairs to every road, the scale of our network — over 5,000 miles — means this is impossible and we have to focus on repairing defects likely to be most detrimental to the safety of our road users," said a representative.

"While we appreciate Sir Rod's commitment and community spirit, we discourage anyone from carrying out work on the roads themselves," they added.

"Without proper traffic management and other specific safety measures, residents are putting themselves and others at risk."