SWINDON’S share of the extra government cash for dealing with potholes apparently comes to £1m.

We can only hope it is enough to solve the problem, but if it doesn’t there’s no need for us to despair.

All we need is a bit of imagination and entrepreneurial spirit - and the ability to lie convincingly to out-of-towners.

If the cash doesn’t stretch to dealing with all of the dirty great holes in the road, we should put fences around the two or three worst ones and turn them into tourist attractions.

Torquay has Kents Cavern, Wookey Hole has, well, Wookey Hole and even Bristol has Pen Park Hole and Redcliffe Caves, so why should Swindon miss out?

All we need is a portable visitor centre here and there with brochures at a tenner a pop, a nice website and some resting actors to recite a script involving smuggling, witchcraft and perhaps a spot of satanism.

We could make up all sorts of legends including phrases such as: “He was never seen again, and neither was his parrot, but on certain nights when the moon is full his screams can be heard emanating from the depths. Or possibly the screams of the parrot...”

Of course, we should take some precautions in the interests of visitor safety before opening the potholes to the public.

Handrails are a must, and so is thorough exploration and mapping of the holes.

After all, some of them have been around for so long that they may well have developed their own evolutionary systems.

We can’t expect good TripAdvisor reviews if people are being carried off by shimmering, translucent monstrosities descended from dogs and cats which vanished in the 1970s.