ANTI-litter campaigners fed up with abandoned and wrecked shopping trolleys left lying around Tidworth have taken part in a trolley dash with a difference.

The group, mostly made up of Tidworth parish councillors, wheeled the trolleys from the town's post office in convoy alongside the busy A338 Pennings Road until they reached the Lidl supermarket.

On their way to the German-owned shop on Friday the group briefly stopped the flow of traffic to and from the store. They then took the trolleys, in various states of repair, into the store and left them.

Parish council chairman, Steve Dagger, who helped organise the protest, said the reason for the stunt was twofold. "Firstly, we wanted to let people know of the extent of the problem and inform them that what they are doing is stealing from the company," he said.

"We also want Lidl to take more responsibility for these trolleys.

"I have spoken to managers here in the past but communication with the company's headquarters in Weston-Super-Mare isn't very good."

District councillor Steve Miles, added that there was also a health and safety concern as some of the trolleys are in a bad condition and are potentially dangerous, especially for children who might be tempted to play with them.

The stores manager Mark Wright promised to do what he could to resolve the situation.

"I've only just arrived here from Swindon so I wasn't aware of situation," he said.

"If in future someone sees an abandoned trolley then they should contact me at the store and I will see that they are collected."

Cllr Dagger added: "Time will tell if we have resolved the problem."