VANDALS have been accused of putting lives at risk by hurling a supermarket trolley from a bridge over a Hampshire motorway.

Drivers using the busy M271 in Southampton were forced to take evasive action after the object landed in the middle lane.

The footbridge was closed several years ago after complaints of anti-social behaviour - but the hooligans gained access and tossed the trolley over the side.

Dashcam footage taken by motorists heading into the city shows the trolley lying in the road and another one that had been abandoned on the bridge.

The incident, which has been reported to police, has been condemned by motoring organisations.

RAC road safety spokesman Pete Williams said: “It’s mindless acts like these that risk the lives of drivers and their passengers.

“This can be a busy stretch of road and the consequences of a vehicle colliding with a trolley at speed are truly frightening.

“It beggars belief why anyone would do this.

“Let’s hope it was a one-off act but if it’s repeated we hope the police will take swift action to prosecute the perpetrators.”

Andrew Pope, an Independent councillor for Redbridge, also condemned the vandals but said the city council was partly to blame.

He said the authority was failing to enforce an order prohibiting anyone from accessing the bridge, which used to link Coniston Road with a playing field on the other side of the M271.

The hooligans are thought to have gained access to the bridge from the playing field, which is not overlooked by houses.

Cllr Pope, pictured, said: “This is an incredibly stupid and dangerous thing to do on a busy motorway and I would urge anyone with information to contact the police.

“But no-one should be able to access the bridge because there’s a gating order that ‘stops up’ any public right of way.

“The Labour-run council is supposed to maintain the barriers at each end of the bridge to stop people getting on to it.

“Last October a tent was photographed on the bridge. I asked the councillor responsible for community safety, Dave Shields, to make sure the bridge was secure.

“Why does the council continue to put residents and motorists at risk?”

Cllr Shields said the authority had no power to enforce the gating order but added: "We have installed a gate, which in intact.

"We've done everything we reasonably can."

A police spokesman said officers were called to the bridge but discovered that the trolley had been moved off the carriageway.

The spokesman added: “The trolley was behind the barrier and posed no risk. There is no investigation at this time.”