Don’t get him wrong, he’s all for the environment, but reckons the bag ban has resulted in a feral shopping trolley situation like no other and is again urging supermarkets to pick up their game.

Cr Meskauskas reckons people who forget to take their bags to the supermarket, or others who refuse outright to pay for them are throwing their groceries into trolleys, wheeling them home or to vehicles and then dumping them.

“They’re turning up in parking areas, streets, and shopping centres. They’re on The Levee in the river, swamps, sporting ovals, in front of homes – people are just dumping them anywhere.

“Supermarkets should sink the money they make from the sale of bags into tracking their trolleys such as a gold coin security lock or a wheel lock similar to what is used in Western Australia.”

Cr Meskauskas said that in WA, shopping trolley wheels lock if they travel a certain distance from the supermarket.

A Woolworths spokesperson said trolleys are provided for the convenience of customers and they find the overwhelming majority of people do the right thing and return them.

“Our store teams in Maitland haven’t seen any increase in reports of abandoned Woolworths trolleys in recent months,” the spokesperson said. “We continue to work closely with dedicated contractors, who sweep the areas surrounding our supermarkets each day to return any stray trolleys. 

“We also partner with Trolley Tracker, which allows members of the public to report abandoned trolleys via a free call (1800 641 497) or the Trolley Tracker app, so they can be quickly removed.”

A Coles spokesperson said many customers find themselves a bag or two short at the register so Coles has extended its complimentary bag offer until August 29. 

“Coles provides trolleys for customer convenience and spends a significant amount maintaining them. Abandoned trolleys are a nuisance and we work to make this better with daily collections. The public can use the Coles app on their smartphones to report trolleys using GPS, or call 1800 TROLLEY.