So, that’s why you can’t always find a shopping cart.

They might be left marooned on a boulevard or tossed in the river.

But now, there’s another explanation for those buggies that vanish when you need them most.

In London, a woman was busted after police found shopping carts at her home being melted down for scrap metal.

Investigating stolen carts, city police searched a Hale St. home and found five buggies from different businesses — plus cutting tools, torch hoses and five propane tanks.

Missing or stolen carts can be a costly headache for retailers, with carts costing $150 to $400 each, depending on the style.

While some stores keep such close tabs on the buggies they lose none, others lose dozens a year, costing them thousands of dollars. Many have fought back by installing coin deposits for carts, or a mechanism that locks the wheels when they leave a parking lot.

In some areas, the problem is so bad stores hire companies to patrol neighbourhoods nearby to snatch back wayward or abandoned carts.

In London, the city collects and stores about 100 abandoned carts a year. Unclaimed carts are disposed of as scrap metal.

A 34-year-old London woman is charged with possession of property under $5,000 obtained by crime.

kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca

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