Ashfield Trolley Wars: Victory For Council

Ashfield District Councillors are celebrating after ASDA finally took action to stop the dumping of their shopping trolleys in Sutton. Locking mechanisms have now been fitted at their store in the town. Councillors have described it as a victory for the community and thanked ASDA for finally taking action. 

Ashfield trolley wars hit the headlines last year when one councillor described parts of Sutton as like a scene from Supermarket Sweep – dozens of trolleys were stolen from the store and left on parks and open spaces in the town. 

Now ASDA has finally fitted wheel locking technology meaning their trolleys cannot leave the premises in Sutton town centre. The Council had refused to give ASDA back the trolleys they collected across the town until the supermarket giant took decisive action. 

Cllr David Hennigan, a Councillor for Sutton Central and New Cross on Ashfield District Council said:

“People said we were ‘off our trolley’ taking on a huge conglomerate like ASDA.  I’d like to thank the team at the EG Group, who own ASDA for listening to our concerns and finally taking action. Myself and my colleague Councillor Samantha Deakin have been pushing and pushing for this. Parts of our town resembled the set of iconic TV quiz Supermarket Sweep. Trolleys were used to transport the proceeds of crime – they were left strewn on nearby Sutton Lawn Park and on the streets of our town. We have tested this out for ourselves and it works. It just goes to show that by listening to resident’s concerns and taking strong action delivers results for our community.”

Cllr Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council said:

“By keeping the trolleys we collected, we forced ASDA to act. Residents were quite rightly angry that shopping trolleys were being dumped around Sutton. It was a daily occurrence. Our Council Depot was full of them. Samantha, David and the team at the Council raised this problem time and time again. Taking on a huge company like ASDA and winning is no mean feat – but Sutton will be a much better environment as a result.”