ASDA are off their trollies.

According to the Daily Mail - Thieves have stolen more than 800 shopping trolleys from a supermarket - leaving the store with a bill for £64,000. The Asda store has seen row after row of trolleys go missing over 12 days and it is thought that they are being sold as scrap metal.  The store in the Eastgate centre in Essex has been left with empty bays until new trolleys are delivered.

You would have thought that someone would have noticed the available trolley numbers falling over the previous 12 days and that ASDA would have been keeping an eye out.

Asda spokesman Jo Newbould said "Large numbers of trolleys have been taken from our supermarket. Police are investigating why they were stolen, but they obviously weren't used by people to take their shopping home. They're expensive for us to replace too. While there are not as many trolleys as we would like at the Eastgate store at the moment, we have ordered replacements. We would urge everyone to keep an eye out for people stealing trolleys, as it causes a lot of inconvenience for customers if there are fewer available." A spokesman for Essex Police said "If anyone sees a trolley with Asda written on it which is nowhere near an Asda store please get in touch."

A walk along most canals would help ASDA to recover a fair few. We have pulled three out of the canal in the last year.

There are days when your faith in human nature is challenged. Today is one such day.

I hereby bestow a Honorary Degree in "Stating the Bleeding Obvious" to John Hayward.

John Hayward is a former senior officer with the Thames Valley police and has some important news to impart. There are, he says "Some nasty thieves at large. They may well be organised gangs. And they need apprehending before they strike again." 

You can see from the above astute summing up of the situation why John Hayward made it to the top as a senior officer.

John Hayward also wants to know, how are you about offering a reward for rustled tortoises?



Tortoise John

Tortoises are at serious risk and John Hayward is particularly concerned about a theft that happened in the early hours of the morning in Sevenoaks, Kent. He said "There’s no doubt the victim was definitely targeted. If you’ve bought one of these tortoises, you want to come clean. Because if the police catch up with you, you can go to prison for five years."

He continued "An awful lot of these animals are becoming rare, so people look at tortoises and see pound signs. They see a little tortoise hatchling being sold legally at a pet shop for £100 or £120 and realise that something the size of a dinner plate is worth many times that amount."

I do hope the reference to a dinner plate is not some sort of premonition of the ultimate fate of these ancient reptiles. I wonder if he has thought about calling in the Ninja Turtles?

When he left the police 16 years ago, Hayward set up the National Theft Register For Exotic Animals. This makes him the nation’s foremost expert on stolen pets. His message is stark "Britain’s tortoise population is in peril. The gentle reptiles, many of whom can live to the age of 100, are being snatched from back gardens in unprecedented numbers. We need someone to come forward and offer a reward for their return. A wealthy tortoise lover maybe.

A family friend asked Jeremy Clarkson to put up some money. He’s got a tortoise himself. But I don’t think he’s answered."

I wonder if he has thought to ask Joanna Lumley, or do the Gurkha's eat tortoise?

Later....