Test Valley’s residents and businesses are being asked to comment on Council proposals to tackle the problem of abandoned shopping trolleys.

During a recent two-month audit of the problem in Andover, 57 trolleys were found on just one day. Now the Council is considering using legal powers to claim reasonable costs for collecting, storing or disposing of abandoned trolleys from their owners. Any trolley believed to have been abandoned would be collected by the Council and stored at a central location. The owners would be advised within seven days and would be asked to collect their trolleys within four weeks. They would then pay a standard fee per trolley on collection.

These legal powers would only be adopted if they are both necessary and proportionate, so anyone with an interest in Test Valley is now being encouraged to respond to an online consultation on the proposals at www.testvalley.gov.uk. The consultation will close on 10 September 2010.

My own view is that this move is long overdue and necessary. Too many trolleys are abandoned around town and on our estates and the supermarkets have failed to deal with them. The council must collect them and it is only right they recoup costs from the trolley owners.