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A butcher has made headlines after taking a unique approach towards a lane-blocking hole outside his shop. Filling the hole with a skeleton, rubber ducks and prop cows wearing hi-vis jackets, Stephen Hallworth decided to pull off the pranks to “lighten the mood” for “depressed” locals after United Utilities failed to fill the pit in for a week.

The 54-year-old dad-of-two was eventually forced to remove the objects on “health and safety” grounds but he believes his hi-jinks worked, as he claims workers returned with their “tail between their legs” last Friday (Oct 14) to fill in the hole. Stephen told SWNS that the roadworks first appeared five days earlier, alongside temporary traffic lights.

In response, he created “hilarious” scenes and even put up a sign reading: “Honk if you are fed up with the traffic lights.”

Stephen, who owns S R Hallworth butchers in Whalley, Lancashire, said: “They put up the traffic light and just left them here, basically.

“On Monday, there was nobody working there all day, the same on Tuesday, and on Wednesday there was still nobody, so we decided to have a little bit of fun,” he explained. “Everyone coming into the shop was depressed. The traffic lights were putting everyone down in the dumps, so we were trying to lighten the mood, and it went down very, very well.

“We have a display in the shop for Halloween, and we put the skeleton in there on Wednesday. On Thursday, we got some hi-vis jackets and workers’ helmets for the cows, and we decided to put the ducks in the hole too, to cheer everyone up.

“Everyone thought it was absolutely hilarious. Everyone gets fed up with traffic lights, but we wanted to put a smile on peoples’ faces.

“The animals did the job, and they filled it in over about an hour after we took the animals out. Nobody worked on it until we put the animals in. They came back with their tail between their legs.”

Stephen said bosses from Lancashire County Council came to inspect the roadworks on Friday, and then ordered him to remove his props on health and safety grounds. But he said water company workers also returned the same day and then filled in the hole, letting traffic pass smoothly once again.

He added: “Lancashire County Council came and said we had breached health and safety rules and said: ‘Could we remove them?’.

“But they also revoked the license for the road works extension as there was nobody monitoring the traffic light. Then they actually came and filled it in the same day.

“We’ve still got the hi-vis animals, and we’re going to keep them outside the shop for another week”.

United Utilities has been approached for comment.

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