A BARRHEAD man has slammed big supermarket chains for allowing the town to become “a trolley dump.”

The fed-up resident, who asked not to be named, said he discovered 17 abandoned trolleys from Asda, Iceland and Tesco while on a short walk along the Levern Water.

He added that the problem is particularly bad in Carlibar Park and near Carlibar Primary School and that, judging by their condition, many of the trolleys have been lying in the water for some time.

“In the space of a five-minute walk along the Levern stream, I counted 17 trolleys from Asda, Iceland and Tesco, just to name the ones I could recognise.

“Although I know it’s not entirely the supermarkets’ fault, I believe they should be doing more to eradicate this.”

The man said he has seen shoppers using trolleys to take their groceries home and believes that children are then playing with the abandoned carts and dumping them in the Levern.

“Supermarkets should not be letting people out with their trolleys,” he added. “I don’t know why they are not doing more to stop this.

“It is depressing when you see them dumped in the river. The stores need to take more responsibility for their own stock.

“Every day, I see another trolley dumped in the river.”

Barrhead councillor Danny Devlin said the town’s trolley problem goes back 15 years.

He added: “The trolleys are everywhere. It’s always been bad in Barrhead.

“I have seen people go up the Lochlibo Road pushing trolleys.”

Councillor Devlin also believes supermarkets should do more to tackle the problem.

“They don’t seem to bother, even though these trolleys are worth a lot of money,” he said. “Only occasionally do you get someone coming round to collect them.

“Some of the trolleys have been in the river for years.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are investigating and have made arrangements to have any abandoned trolleys removed.”

A spokesperson for Asda added: “We know that the majority of our customers look after our trolleys. If anyone spots one where it shouldn’t be, they can let us know by calling 0800 0933 350 so it can be collected as soon as possible.”

Iceland declined to comment.