Bid to clear town of rogue shopping trolleys

FOLLOWING complaints about abandoned shopping trolleys in the River Lemon and other parts of the town, Newton Abbot Town Council has called on supermarket giant Asda

Newton Abbot is plagued by abandoned shopping trolleys and now the town council has called on supermarket giant Asda to honour its pledge to round up the rogue items.

The matter was raised at a meeting of the full council when members heard from resident Tom Pearce.

In a letter to the Clerk Phil Rowe he wrote: “In light of the continuous issue of abandoned trolleys in the River Lemon and hedgerows around the town, will Newton Abbot Town Council formally request Asda Supermarkets add a coin return mechanism and connecting chains to their trolleys?

“A similar system is used at the Lidl store in Kingsteignton and prevents this antisocial behaviour issue.”

After debating the matter it was agreed a letter be sent to the firm, insisting that it tidy up its act.

Within days a response was received and although Asda has ruled out a coin-return scheme it has provided information about the measures it has in place, including the magnetic wheel lock that should operate when a trolley is taken off site.

A spokesman said: “We have a trolley retention system in place on the car park of our Newton Abbot store, as well as a service agreement with Collex who collect any abandoned trolleys free of charge.

“While we know that the majority of our customers take care of our trolleys, if anyone spots one where it shouldn't be, they can let us know by calling 0800 1860 600, emailing customer.services.newtonabbot@asda.co.uk, or by downloading the Collex App, so the trolley can be collected as soon as possible.”

Mr Rowe was not hugely impressed with the statement.

He said: “The firm claims it has a system in place but clearly it hasn't been working as well as it could.

“It's a shame that it has to be the public that picks up the baton on this but at least we now know how to get abandoned trolleys removed.”