In recent months, an increasing number of miscreant and misguided shopping trolleys have been dumped – and residents are jack of it.

If you fancied a stroll down Fitzroy St yesterday you would have noticed 10 abandoned trolleys within a single block.

Four of those trolleys were within eyesight of their home, a nearby supermarket.

Two days earlier, supermarket management had received a call alerting them to the trolleys and yet nothing was done.

Thankfully, residents haven’t been the only ones noticing, with the council introducing tough new rules governing stray trolleys from this month.

Homeless trolleys sleeping rough in the CBD will now be impounded by council rangers and taken to a holding facility.

The owners can then come and collect them – at a cost of $70 a piece.

Nothing forces big business to pay attention like a financial sting and council should be commended for its strongarm new approach.

This month alone, the council has impounded 54 trolleys in just two inspections, costing supermarkets near $4000 combined.

There are, of course, far bigger issues facing our city than delinquent shopping trolleys.

But the pride residents hold in the city is still important.

Trolleys are a blight on our streetscape, an undeniable eyesore that act as a symbol for laziness and anti-social behaviour.

They also pose a practical hazard.

The council has fielded complaints from motorists whose cars have collided with trolleys and disabled residents who say they pose a safety hazard.

The council could go even further and start slapping residents with a fine for taking trolleys too far from supermarkets.

We all know trolleys are tough to steer, but there’s no excuse for finding them hundreds of metres away from their bay.

Only by making shoppers and supermarkets accountable will we finally be rid of the trolley pollution scourge.