AFTER losing 400 trolleys from its Harrogate store since January, Asda has launched a campaign which it hopes will lead to the return of many of its lost grocery carriers.

Staff will be holding a trolley amnesty day at the Bower Road store on Wednesday, and for every trolley returned the store will donate £1 to a local charity.

And to boost its amnesty, the store will be sending out its own trolley-spotting team to round up as many strays as possible.

A spokesman for the store said: "We work very hard to keep the trolleys in store, but it is really difficult.

"We have found them miles away. We had one case where a member of the public rang to tell us one of them was being paint-sprayed purple to disguise it."

Most of the trolleys are found within a mile of the store by people who don't travel by car, but wheel their shopping home and then can't be bothered to return them.

The spokesman said: "We are now looking at security measures which would keep the trolleys on site.

"We appreciate that when they are dumped they simply spoil the landscape."