Around 30 “mangled” Sainsbury’s shopping trolleys have been dumped on a disused railway line.

Local resident Kevin Shaw came across the mound along the path which runs behind the Pepper Hill branch, near Spinghead Road in Northfleet, while walking his dog on Thursday (November 14).

The disused train line used to serve to the former Gravesend West railway station from Longfield but has not been in operation for more than 50 years.

It is now used regularly by walkers but has also become a hotspot for flytippers, particularly those wanting to dump the nearby superstore’s trolleys, Kevin told KentOnline.

In 2020, he said a group of volunteers filled countless black bin bags with rubbish and found a large number of abandoned shopping trolleys. Two years later, a Sainsbury’s wheelchair was found.

Kevin added: “There were at least 30 mangled Sainsbury’s shopping trolleys down there this week.

“There is a beautiful brick arch and railway bridge right behind the store which children are using to chuck things off.

“I have been walking my dogs here for years and every year shopping trolleys get thrown off that bridge.

“Sainsbury’s is just not dealing with the problem of trolleys being taken off its site.”

He said that although the trolleys’ wheels lock when a customer tries to take them through the pedestrian exit, they do not stop them from taking them near the bridge.

Kevin added: “All Sainsbury’s needs to do is attach trolley locks and most people would return them to get their pound coin back.

“Ultimately it is the customer that has to pay for them with added costs on our groceries.”

A spokeswoman for the national supermarket chain said the team at the Pepper Hill store is arranging for the abandoned trolleys to be collected “as soon as possible”.

She added: “We work with a specialist contractor to retrieve trolleys and ask anyone who sees one to report it on the TrolleyWise website.”

Elsewhere in the county, Canterbury City Council is looking to hike fines on supermarkets to deal with the scourge of trolleys being dumped in its rivers and streets.

Members say the unsightly metal carts are “everywhere and ruining the view”, forcing the local authority to clear hundreds in recent years.