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May 19, 2023

Watch man try wrestle Morrisons shopping trolley out of Swindon stream

A Swindon man has taken upon it himself to clear a stream of litter, including

A Swindon man has taken upon it himself to clear a stream of litter, including a shopping trolley.

Mike Davies, who is a parish councillor for Eldene, spotted the trolley stuck in Dorcan Stream when on a weekend jog and decided to take action.

The 44-year-old managed to dislodge the metal object from the stream after climbing into the water in waders - only for it to be stuck further down the stream.

"I found it on Sunday morning while running by the Richard Jeffries playground," said Mike.

"People sometimes make dams in the stream so I don't know if that was why it was there."

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After spotting the Morrisons trolley, Mike grabbed his waders and leapt into the water in an attempt to solve the problem.

"It was more lodged in there than I thought as two massive logs were keeping it in place," he explained.

"I thought it would be straightforward to sort out but it was not. I certainly would say don't try this at home."

After spending five minutes, Mike was able to unstick the trolley, but it moved down the fast-flowing waterway out of his reach.

"It's about 30 yards down the stream but I don't think I’ll be going after it as I can't get down there safely."

Mike also revealed that as obscure as this incident may seem, a trolley going walkabouts from the local Morrisons supermarket is not an irregular occurrence.

"It's not the first time I’ve taken trolleys out of there and I have taken out other items such as litter," said the councillor.

"Morrisons has no locking for the trolleys like other supermarkets so people tend to take trolleys to their home with their shopping and you see them driving them round the estate."

The councillor's intervention was an act of tidying up the local area and he was keen to stress that individuals can do their part to help too.

"It is a popular route as many people walk along the stream and having the trolley there didn't look very nice, especially with ducks swimming nearby causing a danger to wildlife," said Mike.

"There doesn't seem to be a trolley retrieval scheme in Swindon and there's a certain amount you can do as an individual to help as I see it as an extension of litter picking.

"I misjudged that one though."

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