Trolley folly in the Thames at Gravesend

Shopping trolleys dumped in the River Thames near Gravesend have been retrieved by the Port of London Authority (PLA).

New pictures, taken by local photographer Fraser Gray, have been released, coinciding with London Rivers Week (23-31 October), showing the PLA’s Marine Services team rescuing over a dozen discarded trolleys stuck in the foreshore mud, near Imperial Business Park in the Kent town.

Part of the 200-plus tonnes of litter removed from the river each year by the PLA, the trolleys were taken for safe disposal ashore, aboard Driftwood III, a PLA vessel which patrols the river for litter and objects, such as tree branches, with the potential to hamper safe navigation of the river.

The PLA’s marine manager afloat, Michael Russell, said: “We work hard all year round to remove litter of all shapes and sizes from the tidal Thames, from Teddington to the coast.

“Our message to all shoppers is please always return your trolleys to the designated supermarket collection points.

“Left stranded anywhere near by the river, they can all too easily end up in the deep mud of the river’s banks, posing a unnecessary hazard both for river users and wildlife, not to mention the eyesore they create.”