A SHOPPING trolley round-up by Eastleigh Council has landed a leading supermarket with a bill running into thousands of pounds.

Under the Environment Protection Act the council can charge for the recovery of abandoned trolleys.

Since last June supermarkets have been required to remove abandoned trolleys within two days of being notified of their location. Over a ten month period almost 200 abandoned trolleys were reported to the council's StreetCare Service. Most were collected by the supermarkets within two days of being contacted by the civic offices.

Some supermarkets failed to scoop up the trolleys which were then collected and stored at the council's Hedge End depot.

A council spokesman said that despite being advised and given an option to collect or have them returned companies involved failed to recover them.

Forty trolleys remained by the end of the six week maximum storage period.

Now the trolleys, each valued at about £80, have been collected by a scrap metal company to be crushed and smelted for use as recycled steel.

The supermarkets are facing costs, totalling £2,000, with Tesco being responsible for the majority of the unclaimed trolleys.

At the start of the trolley initiative civic chiefs signed a partnership pledge with the borough's major stores.

Eastleigh Cabinet Member for Transport and Streetscene David Airey said the majority of stores had worked with the council to reduce the unsightly problem of abandoned trolleys.

He said: "Unfortunately, however, Tesco has so far proved to be the slowest when it comes to collecting their own trolleys.

"Most of the trolleys which we have sent for recycling belonged to Tesco and were abandoned in the Eastleigh and Bursledon areas close to their stores.

"Despite several reminders and phone calls they were not collected and Tesco will now be liable to costs in the region of £1,500."

A Tesco spokesman said: "We acknowledge that there has been and still is a problem with abandoned trolleys in the Eastleigh area.

"We did sign a pledge with the council and have been working with them to address the issue.

"Unfortunately the scheme has not been as successful as we first hoped and we will be contacting the council to talk about taking the trolley pledge forward."

Residents can ring the council's hotline on 023 8068 8381 to report abandoned trolleys.