SUPERMARKET bosses are blaming each other for abandoned trolleys in Brentwood town centre amid fears they could face heavy fines.
Brentwood Borough Council has told Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer and Iceland that they need to do more to tackle the problem or face fines of up to £70 per trolley.
However, the deputy manager of Sainsbury's in William Hunter Way has hit back, blaming M&S for not taking enough care.
"At the moment it has no locks on its trolleys," said Tina Smith.
"A lot of people are parking up here, getting their shopping from M&S and coming back to spend £5 at our store to get their free parking – then they just leave the trolleys anywhere."
Mrs Smith estimates she sees around 12 M&S trolleys abandoned every day.
She acknowledges that the rival store does come and collect its trolleys but does feel that it could do more still.
"It needs a system in place," she said.
"Two years ago we installed an automatic system around the circumference of our car park which locks any trolley that crosses the boundary.
"We also have or own staff who ensure our trolleys are not ditched elsewhere."
A spokesman for M&S defended the store's record and said it was "open" to taking additional measures.
She added: "We are aware of an issue regarding the theft of trolleys from M&S and other retailers in the area and can confirm that we have a number of measures in place to prevent this, including trolley alarms and patrols by M&S employees."
Iceland, meanwhile, pointed out that it was keen to collect abandoned trolleys, due to the cost of around £80 a time to replace them.
Metal thieves have stolen the store's entire fleet of trolleys twice in the past year, at a considerable cost to the store.
Liberal Democrat borough councillor James Sapwell said the issue of abandoned trolleys was commonly raised by residents in his Brentwood North ward.
"The army of shopping trolleys that are left on any given Sunday night is shocking," he said.
"Some areas such as Mayfield Gardens and The Vale are worse than others.
"On Park Road I think some people like to climb into the trolleys and push them down the hill when returning home from a few drinks.
"I don't blame the stores, but something needs to be done to prevent the situation worsening."
Borough council communications manager Diane Reay said: "Our residents want a clean and tidy town centre. We hope retailers will respond to our letter by increasing their efforts to recover trolleys themselves – but if they don't, we will have no alternative but to take action ourselves."
