Arnold Schwarzenegger the pothole terminator at work

Hollywood superstar, Mr Universe winner and former governor of California has added road maintenance worker to his resume.

Arnold Schwarzenegger undertakes a bit of road maintenance in Brentwood on Tuesday. Picture: Twitter

As a Hollywood superstar, Mr Universe winner and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has had many roles over his career. This week he added another: road maintenance worker.

He showed he still has a strong sense of civic duty after filling a pothole he said had been irritating residents of the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Brentwood for three weeks.

Schwarzenegger, 75, shared a video of himself shovelling what appeared to be tarmac into a hole on Tuesday.

In the footage shared with the Commando star’s five million Twitter followers, a grateful neighbour thanks the actor as she drives by. “You’re welcome,” says Schwarzenegger, clad in work boots, a brown leather jacket and sunglasses reminiscent of his role in The Terminator. “You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. For three weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger and a friend fix a pothole near his home in LA.

Writing on Twitter, Schwarzenegger said: “After the whole neighbourhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it. I always say, ‘Let’s not complain, let’s do something about it’. ”

However, Elena Stern, a public information director for the Public Works Department in Los Angeles, told NBC News the site of Schwarzenegger’s repair job was a “service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by (the Southern California Gas company), who expects the work to be completed by the end of May”.

Los Angeles has been plagued by damaged roads after excessive rain throughout winter. Last week Mayor Karen Bass announced a plan to address what she called an unprecedented number of damaged streets across the city.

Officials said that since December 30 Los Angeles had received 19,692 service requests for repairs and, as of April 6, crews had filled at least 17,549 potholes.

Schwarzenegger was the Republican governor of California from 2003 to 2011. The former professional bodybuilder then returned to acting.

The Times