Council fury with supermarket giant Asda over abandoned trolleys in Sutton

Councillors are in a stand-off with supermarket Asda over dumped supermarket trolleys – and are refusing to return dozens of abandoned trolleys until the store takes the matter ‘seriously’.
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Ashfield Council has asked Asda bosses for an urgent meeting to discuss and resolve the issue – and invited store representatives to tour Ashfield so they can see for themselves the scale of the problem.

Coun Samantha Deakin, council portfolio holder for parks, town centres and neighbourhood services, said the council is sitting on dozens of supermarket trolleys at its depot in Sutton which have been collected by members of its environment team.

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The council is now refusing to release them back to supermarkets like Asda, which has a large store on Priestsic Road, Sutton, unless they pay a small fee for the work involved.

The council are refusing to return the abandoned trolleysThe council are refusing to return the abandoned trolleys
The council are refusing to return the abandoned trolleys

Coun Deakin said: “We’ve tried to engage with supermarkets and they are not taking the problem seriously.

“We wrote to them months ago and they don’t seem to be accepting responsibility.

“Supermarkets fail to understand their failure to secure their trolleys adversely impacts our environment and takes up a significant amount of staff time.

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"We’ve been picking their trolleys up for free for years – why should the taxpayer pick up the tab for a multi-national conglomerate like Asda?

The trolleys are an eyesore in SuttonThe trolleys are an eyesore in Sutton
The trolleys are an eyesore in Sutton

"Enough is enough – unless they start taking this issue seriously they’re not having their trolleys back.”

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Off their trolley

Coun David Hennigan, member for Sutton and Central, backs the position.

He said: “Walk anywhere in Sutton and you’ll come across a dumped trolley – sometimes several.

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“They are used to transport the proceeds of crime and are a stain on our environment and a strain on our council.

“The council has always brought them back to the supermarkets, but we have staff who have other things to do with their time.

“Asda must be off their trolley if they think we’ll keep doing their job.”

An Asda spokesman said: “We would like to thank the council for bringing this to our attention and will work with them and our trolley collection partner to resolve this as soon as possible.

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“Residents who see an abandoned trolley can also directly report it using the Collex app, so we can arrange for them to be collected and put them to better use.”

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