THREE organisations have welcomed the agreement signed between Salisbury district council, Tesco and Sainsbury's to introduce coin-operated trolleys at their city centre stores.

The Environment Agency, Wiltshire Wildlife Rescue and City Centre Management have said it should make great strides towards removing the scourge of abandoned trolleys.

Henry Harbord, the Environment Agency's flood defence improvements engineer, said: "The Environment Agency has shared the strong concern over the environmental and amenity impacts of trolleys being dumped in the city's rivers.

"We know that the stores in question and the district council have done a lot of work to solve this problem and we are delighted that this has now paid off, with all parties signing up to the implementation of a trolley retention system.

"We now look forward to the commencement of the scheme and to a dramatic fall in the number of trolleys abandoned in the city."

Those views were echoed by Wiltshire Wildlife Rescue, which has had to tend to animals killed or injured by trolleys discarded in the rivers.

Founder Phil Groombridge said: "Animals have been getting caught in the trolleys, discarded in the rivers, and dying.

"We have had 23 deaths this year as a result of trolleys being discarded in the river.

"These deaths have included swans, geese and fish.

"We get calls almost on a daily basis about trolleys in the river.

"I hope this agreement will bring this threat to our animals to an end," Mr Groombridge said.

"I am very happy the stores and the district council have come to this agreement - it's brilliant news."

City businesses have also welcomed the move.

City Centre Management chairman Ian Newman said: "On behalf of all the businesses in the city centre, the board of city centre management would like to congratulate Tesco and Sainsbury's on their decision to embrace the installation of a coin-operated trolley scheme in Salisbury, following in the footsteps of Iceland and Marks & Spencer.

"This will help to free our beautiful and historic city from the scourge of abandoned shopping trolleys."

The agreement between Tesco, Sainsbury's and the council was signed at the end of October.

It will see the council free up spaces in several city centre car parks to make way for coin-operated trolley bays.

The supermarkets now have three months in which to introduce the changes.