Humorous sign warns of flooding on road renowned for flooding

Dave Dorling let his creative juices flow when making his ‘leaky lay-by’ sign for the A326 Marchwood Bypass.

The sign – on the southbound side – forewarns motorists about the area which is consistently plagued by roadworks.

The 62-year-old said he and his family coined the term ‘leaky lay-by’ and it quickly caught on.

The 'leaky lay-by' sign on the Marchwood Bypass (Image: Dave Dorling)

"People thought the phrase was quite amusing and I took the suggestion of making a sign onboard," he explained.

Dave, a self-employed electrician from Totton, made the sign before attaching it to a signpost on Easter Sunday.

Since then, hundreds of motorists and passers-by have enjoyed his addition to the busy road.

Dave said: “I put a post on Facebook before Easter warning people that the roadworks had started again at the ‘leaky lay-by’, as it is called in my house.

“People thought the phrase was quite amusing.

“A water main runs underneath the lay-by and, I am no expert, but it seems it has passed its best.

“Very often, there are roadworks in place to fix the water main.

“All my customers are based in Hythe and the Waterside area, so I am up and down the Marchwood Bypass on a daily basis.

“The sign is a tongue-in-cheek gesture.”

As of Wednesday, April 3, Dave’s sign was still standing proud.

But he does not expect it to stand the test of time.

Dave said: “I thought someone would remove it, but it was still there when I drove past on Wednesday morning.

“I don’t think it has much longevity.”

He added: “The sign is not a political stance or something I have done to moan at anyone – it’s just a bit of fun.

“I am not here to slag anyone off. If it brings a smile to people’s faces, happy days.

“The only idea I had was to put smiles on faces which I think I have achieved.

“Someone has called it the ‘Waterside water feature’ which I thought was quite funny.

“It should have a brown and white tourist sign there.”

The ongoing works at the site are being undertaken by Southern Water.

According to One Network, two-way traffic signals are in place while the maintenance works are carried out.

A spokesperson from Southern Water said: “We are still investigating and hope to be able to provide an update tomorrow.”