M&S and Sainsbury's shopping trolleys dumped around Saltwells Nature Reserve

Dozens of them have ended up blighting a nature reserve, posing a risk to wildlife, having been dumped by thoughtless shoppers.

But thanks to Alan Preece, the senior warden at the Saltwells Nature Reserve in Brierley Hill, and a hardy band of volunteers, they have been pulled out out brooks, hedges and ditches around the beauty spot.

Around 30 trolleys were rounded up during a clean-up operation.

They are thought to have been dumped by shoppers from the nearby Merry Hill shopping centre, with many ending up clogging brooks and streams around the site.

There was a spike in trolley dumping over the Christmas period. Mr Preece said: "They were found spread across the reserve, in brooks normally.

"They are either left in nearby housing estates and kids pick them up or just left down here.

"There was a lot more than usual over Christmas. We collect them up, put them in a central location and arrange for them to be collected through the proper channels."

As well as being a nuisance for visitors to the nature reserve, the trolleys also pose a danger to wildlife who call it their home.

"They are ugly. Visually, they are not what you want.

"When you walk around a nature reserve you don't come to see shopping trolleys," Mr Preece said.

"If there is a build up in the brooks it could cause the water levels to rise and all the plants and burrows would be flooded.

"They form a grid and leaves stick to it, effectively forming a dam."

It is thought many of the trolleys are used to transport heavy goods and are then discarded when they are no longer needed.

Mr Preece said: "From the trolleys we have seen over Christmas, they seem to be mainly from companies selling bulky goods." Many of the trolleys are cleaned and repaired ready to be put back into circulation.

The warden said irresponsible shoppers needed to think about what happens when trolleys are dumped.

He said: "I am sure Merry Hill are doing what they can. People are stealing them from the shops and dumping them."

An M&S spokesman said: "We are disappointed to hear about the situation at Saltwells Nature Reserve. As soon as M&S was informed of this matter we arranged for all the trollies to be removed."

The clean-up was part of a wider project to improve the nature reserve which included hedge-laying which is hoped will boost numbers of birds and other wildlife.