Kirkstall Morrisons has reintroduced coin locks on its shopping trolleys in a bid to reduce dumping in nearby waterways.
WLD has been reporting for the past eight years on the problems with dumped trolleys in Kirkstall Goit and the River Aire.
Nearby residents and councillors have been campaigning for solutions to the problems with dumping, which they fear is an environmental hazard and is unsightly.
Their campaign has led to Morrisons reintroducing the £1 coin locks it used to have on its shopping trolleys until they were removed about nine years ago.
The move has been welcomed by Councillor Hannah Bithell (Lab, Kirkstall) who has been campaigning over the issue for many years.
She said: “I am delighted that on the back of work I have been doing with Morrisons and Trolleywise we now have the £1 locks back on trolleys at Morrisons on Savins Mill Way.
“A couple of months ago there were 13 different trolleys in the watercourses around the Morrisons complex. I had these removed and will continue to have any that end up in watercourses removed.
“This anti-social behaviour is awful for our local ecology and also affects the beauty of our environment.
“Hopefully this change will mean fewer loose trolleys and therefore less opportunity for anti-social behaviour with them.
“There is ongoing work which I will continue to post on social media groups so do keep an eye out for that, including a new and updated Trolleywise app you can report abandoned trolleys on.”
One resident told WLD: “This is fantastic news. We’ve been campaigning for years on this issue. The locks shouldn’t have been removed in the first place.
“It won’t solve the problem by itself but it should improve the situation. It sometimes gets ridiculous with the amount of trolleys dumped in Kirkstall Goit and elsewhere.”
A Morrisons spokesperson confirmed the coin locks have been reintroduced ‘following feedback from the store advising that the trollies are being taken, abandoned and also thrown into the local river’.
“A local councillor also reached out asking what we were doing to tackle this and we agreed that this would be the right move to help protect the local environment,” the spokesperson added.
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