Councillor calls out shops after trolleys fished from rivers

We previously reported that Kieran McGregor has now fished at least 140 shopping trolleys from the burns around Pollok.

Councillor Roza Salih has now called on stores at the nearby Silverburn Shopping Centre to play their part in cleaning up the clean-up.

Councillor Salih said: “I want to make the position clear regarding shopping trolleys being dumped in the burns around Pollok.

“As one of your local councillors, I have been raising this issue with M&S and Tesco at Silverburn since 2023, calling on the retailers to take responsibility for their trolleys and arrange regular collections.

“To be clear: the council is not responsible for collecting private retailers’ trolleys. Responsibility lies with the retailers themselves to ensure their property is recovered and does not become a nuisance or environmental problem in our communities.

Roza Salih (Image: Newsquest)

“I am aware that members of the community have contacted Trolleywise, who have been helpful in removing abandoned trolleys. I welcome the efforts of community members who have taken the time to clean the burns and report these issues.

“Cllr William Graham and I have repeatedly contacted both Tesco and M&S, pressing them to take responsibility and provide assistance with the collection of their trolleys.

“These efforts have already delivered results. Tesco have now collected their trolleys following our representations, and Cllr Graham and I have a meeting with M&S this week to press for the same action.

“We will continue to hold these retailers to account. The people of Pollok should not be left dealing with the consequences of private retailers failing to properly manage their own property.

“We have been raising this issue, we are getting action, and we will keep pushing until it is properly addressed.”

The clean-up crew (Image: Robert Perry)

As time has passed, the rubbish has evolved past trolleys as Kieran and his cohort have found items like wheelie bins, tyres and even a PlayStation console.

You can keep up to date with Kieran's efforts through his Instagram, where he posts daily instalments showing his progress.

An M&S spokesperson said: "We share local residents' concerns about abandoned shopping trolleys and have met with both Councillors Salih and Graham to discuss practical ways to address the issue.

"Since 2021, we have partnered with Trolleywise to recover and return reported trolleys, while our store teams also carry out regular inspections of the surrounding area.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to address the issue, we have arranged for Trolleywise to increase collections in the area and are exploring additional measures to help prevent trolleys from being taken beyond the immediate vicinity of the store.

"We will continue to work with local stakeholders, the community and other retailers to identify further solutions where possible."

A Tesco spokesperson said: " “We encourage all customers to return their trolleys once they have finished their shop, both for others to use and because we don’t want them to cause any harm to the local environment.

"We use a specialist company to retrieve our trolleys, and we’d ask anyone who sees an abandoned Tesco trolley to use the Trolleywise website to report this or let the store know so we can get it back as soon as possible.”