BOSSES at Asda store in Blackburn resorted to a trolley amnesty in a final bid to save hundreds of pounds and raise money for charity.

In 2002 more than 95 supermarket trolleys had disappeared in six months from the Blackburn store.

Missing trolleys worth £80 each ere reportedly being used for anything from makeshift barbecues to central features in flower gardens.

Asda bosses were offering £1 donations to the Telegraph’s Magic Eye Appeal for every trolley returned.

Asda Blackburn has also organised members of staff to form a trolley brigade to travel around East Lancashire hunting down missing trolleys.

Carole Davis, organiser, said: “Last year we found them as far a field as Wilpshire but we thought exchanging a trolley for a donation to the appeal was a novel way of fund-raising.”

Phil Hamilton, general store manager, said: “It is absolutely amazing the amount of trolleys that have gone missing. We have and continue to make every effort to stop them going walkabout.

“We are looking at alternative security measures to keep the trolleys in the stores as they are not only expensive to replace but also make the local landscape look untidy. Quite where they go is beyond me!”