Dumped trolleys blight streets, say councillors

Kirsty Knight said she could not go a day without receiving reports of dumped trolleys

City councillors say shopping trolleys being abandoned across neighbourhoods are becoming a big issue.

Kirsty Knight, Independent councillor for Orton Waterville, Peterborough, said she had found "dozens of trolleys" scattered around the Ortons, causing "real problems for our communities",

Knight also warned of the safety risks, particularly for vulnerable residents, posed by the abandoned trolleys.

"It comes down to laziness and lack of responsibility. My husband and I collected 18 trolleys not long ago and within days, they were back again," she said.

City councillors are calling for action on the issue of dumped trolleys

Richard Stangward, Labour councillor for Bretton, echoed her frustration.

"We are also seeing people piling bags of rubbish into the trolleys and then leaving them in public areas," he said.

"You could go to different areas of Bretton and will definitely find one."

Stangward acknowledged the city council's FixMyStreet app was generally effective and encouraged residents to report issues.

"The app usually gets them gone within 48 hours of reporting, but they are so busy all the time," he said.

"Bretton is a good area but things like this drag it down."

Some people around Bretton were using the trolleys to dump rubbish, Richard Stangward said

Abandoned trolleys have also been reported in Werrington, Westwood, and parts of Ravensthorpe.

The council said it used the app Trolleywise to report them.

"If they are not listed as ones that they support, we will endeavour to return them if the shop is identifiable and local," a council spokesperson said.

Some retailers have attempted measures to prevent trolleys being taken off-site.

Tesco, for example, requires customers to insert a £1 coin to release a trolley.

But Knight said people were finding "a way around it."

"They are using buttons or even smaller coins to access them instead," she said.

She said one Orton shop, QD, was attaching clothing security tags to its trolleys in a bid to tackle the issue.

"If anyone takes them out of the shop, an alarm goes off. A staff member has to push the trolley for you to the car," she said.

"We need to do something. They make our streets look neglected but also pose a hazard when left on pavements, especially for those using mobility scooters."