ABANDONED SHOPPING TROLLEYS CAUSING HEADACHE FOR COUNCIL'S STREET CLEANERS

 

Some of the shopping trolleys retrieved by the council

ABANDONED shopping trolleys are causing headaches for North East Lincolnshire Council.

The authority's street cleaners  have collected more than 140  over the past eight weeks.

They are finding them everywhere from river banks and under bushes to street corners and in car parks.

Usually, the trolleys are collected by a private contractor and returned to the retailers or used for spares.

If they are not collected, they are scrapped and the metal recycled to be used again.

Staff from the street cleansing team are monitoring the numbers collected and stockpiled 143 at their depot in Grimsby in eight weeks. They say the problem has  recently worsened.

Cllr Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for Environment and Transport at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "Our staff are picking up two or three every day.

"Not only do they look unsightly when they’re left on the streets or dumped in the river, but they can also injure wildlife and block the flow of water.

"It’s an unnecessary burden on our staff to retrieve trolleys. 

"We know most people use them responsibly, but sadly a small number of people choose to dump them and leave us to pick up the mess.”

It is often  difficult to retrieve the trolleys  from water and mud.  

Grimsby’s Canoe River Cleaner James Elliott who often pull trolleys from the River Freshney, comments: "As well as undermining civic pride shopping trolleys can alter the habit of our wildlife that call the river home.

"They can also pose a greater flood risk or algae build up as they act as anchor points for other litter and debris.

"I personally feel that supermarkets need to take more responsibility and work with people such as me and other volunteers to resolve this problem."