How to use Fill That Hole

How do I make a report?

Start at the homepage and type in your postcode or a place name. Not sure where you are? Pick ‘use my location’.
Put the pin in the map to show exactly where the problem is, and type in a description of the issue. Then send.
Check your email inbox for our confirmation mail, click on the link, and job done.

Is there a Fill That Hole app?

Fill That Hole is a progressive web app (PWA) rather than a downloadable app. This means that you can use the website as normal on your phone, or save this website to your mobile’s home screen and use it just like an app, even when your phone has no signal. This is described in more detail here.

Can I make a report while offline?

If you’re using the app, you can start reports while offline, save them as a draft and finish them when you’re connected to the internet again. This is really handy for any problems you spot while in a rural location without very good signal.

Remember: your report won’t be automatically submitted when you’re back online. You need to load the app again to finish the report and submit it.

How do I find my draft reports?

Once you’re back online, you can find any draft reports you started by clicking the three bars icon in the top right corner and selecting ‘Continue draft report…’ from the menu. From there, you can either continue your reports and submit them, or delete them.

What can I report?

Fill That Hole is primarily for reporting things which are broken, dirty, damaged or dumped, and need fixing, cleaning or clearing, like graffiti, dog fouling, potholes or street lights that don’t work.

What shouldn’t I report?

Please see our Conditions of Use for things you shouldn’t report, or include in your report.

Urgent issues: For problems that might put people in immediate danger, like gas leaks or falling trees, please contact your council or the appropriate utility company or emergency service directly – by phone if possible. We often route problem reports via cleansing services or highways maintenance departments, so using Fill That Hole for urgent matters may result in a delay in your report getting to the right department.

Non-physical things: For issues such as noise pollution, barking dogs, fires, missing wheelie bins or missed rubbish collections, proposals for speed bumps or pedestrian crossings, or complaining about the council itself, please contact the council directly.

Are reports public?

Yes they are: when you submit your report, we send it to the council, and we also publish it on the website. Your council will respond directly to you, and from that point on, your correspondence is one-to-one.

For that reason, we suggest that you don’t include personal details such as addresses and phone numbers until you are in direct communication.

Why are reports public?

Putting your reports online has several benefits. Others can quickly see what has already been reported, so it prevents the council from having to deal with duplicates.

It also creates a snapshot for local communities, so it’s easy to see what the common problems are in a given area, and how quickly they get fixed. Other local residents can browse, read and comment on problems – and perhaps even offer a solution.

Why do I have to give my name and an email address?

For a few reasons: firstly, we need your email address so that the council can get back to you.

Also, messages sent via Fill That Hole go into council systems. In most cases a full name is a mandatory field, and your report may be rejected without it.

Finally, we find that when users are asked to provide contact details, the tone of their correspondence tends to be more constructive and less abusive.

We don’t publish your email address, and you can opt to submit your report anonymously – just uncheck the ‘show my name publicly’ box on submission. This will mean that your name is not displayed on the Fill That Hole website, although it is still sent to the council.

If you want to anonymise a report you made in the past, sign in to your account (see below for how to register) and you’ll see a ‘Hide your name?’ option on the report.

Accounts and alerts

Do I need to register with Fill That Hole to use it?

No – you can send a report without registering. When you submit your report, we’ll send you an email with a confirmation link.

If you use Fill That Hole a lot, you can avoid this step by creating an account. Once you’ve signed in, your reports will be sent as soon as you click ‘submit’.

You’ll also be able to see all previous reports you’ve made on one page.

How do I register?

Visit https://www.fillthathole.org.uk/auth and choose ‘Email me a link to sign in’. You can choose a password at that point.

I’ve forgotten my password

Don’t worry! Visit https://www.fillthathole.org.uk/auth/forgot and provide your email and a new password. You’ll receive an email to confirm the change.

I want to change my password or email address

You can do this from your account page.

What are alerts?

Fill That Hole lets you sign up to receive an email every time someone reports a problem in your chosen area – visit https://www.fillthathole.org.uk/alert to see what’s available. This is a free service.

I want to stop receiving alerts

There is an unsubscribe link at the end of every alert email – please click on this and you’ll be immediately unsubscribed.

When things don’t go as planned

The site isn’t working

First, check your internet connection is ok.

If there are no problems at your end or ours, please wait a few minutes, and then try again.

If you still can’t get things to work, drop us a line.

Please include the wording of any error message you see displayed, which browser you are using (eg Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari), whether you’re on a desktop or mobile computer, and anything else that might be relevant.

Fill That Hole doesn’t recognise my postcode

Please note we are unable to take reports for problems on private roads.

Our postcode data comes from Ordnance Survey. If you have a relatively new postcode, it may not yet be reflected on OS, and therefore on Fill That Hole.

It’s ok though, you can still use the site: just enter a nearby place name, street name or let the site locate you automatically, instead. You can use the pan and zoom controls at the top right hand corner of the screen to zero in on the precise location.

My street isn’t on your map

Please note we are unable to take reports for problems on private roads.

Fill That Hole’s default maps are from Ordnance Survey, so updates to our maps happen when OS refreshes their own data.

If you still can’t see the street you want to make a report on, your best bet is to describe the problem location in as much detail as possible, as well as using the map to pinpoint it.

Ordnance Survey will accept requests for amendments to their maps: contact them on customerservices@ordnancesurvey.co.uk or via the post to Ordnance Survey, Adanac Drive, Southampton, SO16 0AS or telephone 03456 05 05 05.

There are too many pins on the map; I can’t make a report

Use the ‘hide pins’ button at the top or bottom right of the screen to clear the map, or the state/category filters where available.

There’s no category for what I want to report

The categories on Fill That Hole are set by each individual council, and reflect the problems that they are able to deal with.

There is almost always an ‘other’ option, but if your problem doesn’t fit neatly into any of the given categories, please consider whether Fill That Hole is the appropriate place to report it (see “What can I report?”, above).

I haven’t received a confirmation email

Please check your spam folder – this is the most common reason that confirmation emails cannot be found.

Unfortunately, it is hard for us to avoid from our end, but by adding us to your email whitelist, you will prevent this happening in future.

You sent my report to the wrong place

Please check that you placed your pin correctly, and chose the right category for your report. If your problem is very near a council boundary, it is easy to place the pin on the wrong side of it by mistake. Similarly, choosing the wrong category can mean that your report is sent to one council when it should have gone to another.

At the moment, while Fill That Hole does send reports to National Highways, it does not send reports to Traffic Scotland or Traffic Wales who maintain trunk roads.

If the above two paragraphs do not apply, please drop us a line and we’ll try to get to the bottom of why your report has been misrouted. Please include the URL (web address) of your Fill That Hole report.

It might be that the problem you need to report may not be the responsibility of your local council, or that of a public body to which we are able to send reports. If this is the case, we will always try to reach out to them in the hope that, in the future, you will be able to report problems to them via Fill That Hole.

I want to update my report

If you’ve already submitted your report, but now you need to send further information to your council, you should wait until they reply to you, and then respond to their communication directly.

You can also leave an update on your Fill That Hole report page, but note that updates are not forwarded to the council. They are intended as a place for residents to discuss local problems and offer advice or support.

With this in mind, you may wish to both update your report on the site, and contact your council via email.

I want to edit my report

It’s not possible to edit a report once it has been sent to the council. However, if you have a good reason for editing the text on the website (for example, you have included your phone number by mistake, or you intended your report to be anonymous) contact us and we will edit it for you.

Please include the URL (web address) of your Fill That Hole report when you contact us.

Note that edits on the site are not sent to the council, so if your edit is vital to the problem being fixed, please respond to your council when they reply to your initial report.

We cannot alter the position of a pin once it has been placed.

I do not wish to make a public report

All reports made through Fill That Hole are published online. Reports can be submitted anonymously: just check the box when you fill in the form. Note that the body of your report will still appear on the Fill That Hole website, but without your name attached to it, and that your name will still be sent to the council.

If your report contains potentially sensitive material, such as names or addresses, we suggest that you do not include these until the council has replied to you directly and you are in one-to-one contact.

If your report is not suitable for publication, you should contact your council directly, via the contact details given on their own website.

I’ve seen an inappropriate report/comment

There’s a ‘report abuse’ button at the foot of every Fill That Hole report. Please click on this and we’ll take a look as soon as we can.

If the report or comment is contravening our Conditions of Use, we’ll take it down.

My problem hasn’t been fixed

Fill That Hole sends reports to the people who can fix them, but we have no control over how or whether they are responded to.

If you are unhappy with the way your report has been dealt with, please contact the authority who received your report (you can find this information in the report itself) to follow up with them directly.

Someone has marked my problem was fixed, but it isn’t

As the owner of your report on Fill That Hole, you can change its status back to ‘not fixed’ at any time. Go to your report’s web page and check the box under ‘update’.

My report is old and my problem has been fixed. Can I now delete it?

We currently have a policy of retaining all Fill That Hole reports: we believe they contribute a useful historic picture of communities across the country. They’ve even been used in academic research, to study, for example, what the common problems are in an area, or how potholes are distributed across the country.

As new reports are made, older ones drop off the first page for any given area, and are less likely to be discovered by those visiting the site.