Lancaster supermarket in talks with MP as pressure mounts to rid River Lune of mountain of dumped shopping trolleys

MP Cat Smith was contacted by the Lancaster Guardian in December about the dumped trolleys and bikes in the River Lune which were an eyesore.

She wrote to Sainsbury’s Corporate Affairs team asking them to work with the store in Lancaster to prevent their trollies from being thrown into the Lune.

MP Cat Smith said: “Sainsbury’s have told me the following:

“Thank you for your email to our government relations team, regarding the quantity of shopping trollies in the River Lune near our Central Lancaster store. We really appreciate you taking the time out to contact us.

“I have spoken to the store manager Steve, who has advised that they are aware of the trollies being abandoned in the River Lune and are working with our trolley provider to have them removed.

“Steve has confirmed that they are currently in the process of completing risk assessments, so that the work can be carried out safely. However, we know what an important issue this is – both to

your constituents and our customers – so we will be looking to complete this work as soon as possible.

"I can also advise that the store is working with our trolley provider to implement further preventative measures to stop trollies being taken off the premises. This includes ensuring the trollies are

“chained to the trolley shelter, rather than just chained together as they were previously.

Lancaster MP steps in after seeing shocking state of Lancaster river with dumped bikes and shopping trolleys

“Steve has also advised that the store is happy to be already working with the council on this issue, to explore other ways to reduce this issue going forward.”

MP Cat Smith said she was pleased by how proactive the supermarket was being in dealing with the matter, and that they are working with the trolley provider to remove the ones which are already in the River Lune.

She said: “I am encouraged by the work they are doing on this matter but have asked them to keep me updated as I imagine there is significant public interest in seeing the River Lune cleaned up.”

See shocking state of Lancaster's river as dumped bikes and shopping trolleys pile up