The problem of abandoned shopping trolleys in Cramlington will not go away!

The problem of abandoned shopping trolleys in Cramlington will not go away!

An abandoned shopping trolley is a away from the supermarket it belongs to. Abandoned trolleys are an eyesore that leave a bad impression of the town. If ignored, trolleys can become a hazard, especially if they are left on footpaths or in the proximity of moving traffic and they can also pollute waterways and obstruct the flow of water.

Most major supermarkets operating in Cramlington have their own arrangements in place to collect trolleys, but these have clearly been insufficient to cope with the scale of the problem that has escalated during the pandemic.

Cramlington Town Council also assists supermarkets by collecting and returning any trolleys its grounds staff come across in the course of their work.

Councillor Scott Lee who represents East Cramlington regularly collects up to thirty trolleys a week from his ward.

Councillor Lee commented: “Enough is enough! We need action to stop these hundreds of trolleys leaving the store in the first place. Retailers have refused to invest in locking technology to prevent the trolleys leaving their sites. The various trolley collection schemes are reactive and not fit for purpose – many stores haven’t bothered to sign up to them, meaning more and more trolleys are left abandoned in our streets and parks.

I am delighted Cramlington Town Council is keen to adopt the legislation that allows councils to fine retailers for each abandoned trolley and take them off the streets. We now need to get the agreement of Northumberland County Council to move forward.

Better still, revenues raised from this will be ringfenced for environmental projects, helping us to achieve a clean, green Cramlington.”

East Cramlington has one of the highest rates of abandoned trolleys, but the problem is prevalent across the town.

The underlying cause of the problem are thoughtless individuals who take their shopping home in a trolley and then simply dump it for someone else to collect. This is not only anti-social, but also illegal and can result in a substantial fine.

The County Council has legal powers to charge supermarkets for the collection of abandoned trolleys and can also fine the individuals who are responsible. The Town Council has urged the County Council to use these and would actively support efforts to enforce the use of the powers.

Until now the Council has avoided this approach and has preferred to try and work with supermarkets on measures to discourage the taking and abandoning of trolleys with attempts to bring in preventative measures.

But unfortunately, this approach has had limited effect and the Town Council is now lobbying for penalties against retailers and individuals. This will include:

• Charging retailers whose trolleys are abandoned on public land; failure to pay will result in the destruction of the trolley.
• Fining any individual found to be responsible for abandoning a trolley
• Asking Manor Walks security staff to stop people taking trolleys off-site

The Town Council will be consulting retailers on these proposals as a matter of urgency.

Presently the public are asked to report abandoned trolleys via the companies below.

Non Asda trolleys are collected by Trolleywise, please contact them via:
Phone: 08003161241 or Email:enquiries@wanzl.co.uk

Asda trolleys are collected by  Collex Trolley Retrievals via:
Phone: 0808 1680 600
Email: request@collextrolley.com

Full details are on the Town Council website at: https://www.cramlingtontowncouncil.gov.uk/service/trolleys/