A pensioner who filled a pothole himself after becoming fed up of waiting for the council has said he will fight the “injustice” after being fined.
Claudio Trenta, 72, decided to fill a hole on a pedestrian crossing with cold bitumen in the small town of Barlassina in Lombardy, northern Italy.
And he was furious to receive a fine of almost £800 for his efforts at road repair.
But Claudio is determined to fight the case claiming that the council was negligent for not repairing the 30 centimetre hole.
The fine of €882 (£767) has led to a widespread debate in Italy about the condition of the roads in the country while one politician said that Claudio should have been “thanked” for his efforts.
Trenta shared on Facebook a photo of the letter he was given by police alleging that he contravened the highway code. He was given the fine for taking on a potentially dangerous job in a public space without permission.
The 72-year-old has also been ordered to undo his work and restore the road to how it was previously.
“If they think I’m an idiot, they are wrong. They’ve provoked me, and so now I’m filing a counter complaint against the council for negligence,” he told Corriere della Sera.
Claudio claims that he reported the pothole several times over the past few months without any action being taken.
After deciding to fill the pothole himself and explain what he did on a local Facebook community group, he was given the fine.
Claudio has received plenty of support including from Vittorio Sgarbi, an undersecretary at the ministry of culture.
He wrote on Facebook: “As well as the rules of the road there exists common sense. Good sense would have led the municipal police to have thanked this gentleman.”
The debate has also created a media stir with journalists discussing the state of the Italian roads.
Many social media users have backed Claudio. One person wrote: “Today I sent a protest email to Barlassina town hall. I’m aware of the realities in Calabria and Sicily, where the streets have been reduced to sieves and if people don’t take action themselves, everything collapses.”
Claudio has said that he will not give up the fight to have the fine overturned.
He told Monza Today: "I’m not used to all this publicity. I will fight to the bitter end to have this fine cancelled as, in my opinion, it’s an injustice. Why fine me instead of those who knew about the problem and failed to intervene?”
