Instead of paying five pence for a plastic bags at Thornton Heath’s Tesco shoppers are taking them home and dumping them on the streets.

After pressure from fed up residents sick of seeing the abandoned trolleys littering Thornton Heath the council has called for an urgent meeting with Tesco bosses and has said it will investigate fining Tesco.

Many of the dumped trolleys then become mobile bins as people throw their rubbish in them creating a fly tip.

Other less profitable supermarkets have introduced devices which stops a trolley being taken away from the store but not Thornton Heath Tesco.

It is allowing trolleys to leave the store in droves. In one street alone – Thirsk Road (pictured) – six were abandoned but it is normal for the number of trolleys being reported dumped to run in to double figures every day.