What is it about supermarket trolleys that makes anyone want to push them into the nearest river, canal or, come to that, the sea? An accident pushing an overloaded Carrefour trolley along a wobbly pontoon in Port Chantereyne in Cherbourg is, perhaps, forgivable, if unfortunate. But wanton trolley drowning?

This is prompted by a news story about Essex Waterways, part of the IWA, threatening to take Tesco to court to recover the cost of removal of trolleys from the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation at Heybridge. Tesco paid up. Not only that, Tesco has introduced ‘new procedures’ to reduce the likelihood of trolleys being abandoned within the waterway.

IWA commented “IWA believes that the larger navigation authorities should take a more proactive and sustained assertive approach to known trolley hotspots and ensure that our waterways are freed from the scourge of abandoned trolleys once and for all”

There’s a new one, ‘known trolley hotspot’.