Tesco store left with only 16 baskets after almost 500 are stolen... because shoppers refuse to pay 5p for plastic bags

Shoppers flogging baskets on eBay for £25 each



A Tesco supermarket has had 500 of its shopping baskets stolen after a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags was introduced last year.



The store in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, has just 16 baskets left following the surge in theft.

Cash-strapped shoppers, who refuse to pay for plastic bags, are flogging the baskets for £25 each on eBay.

The store has been hit hard since Wales became the first place to introduce a 5p charge for all plastic bags in supermarkets last October.

Stolen: The Tesco store in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, has been left with just 16 baskets after shoppers have stolen them

The tax on plastic bags has seen the number given away by shops fall by up to 96 per cent, according to figures released in July.



The tax's success is a vindication of the Daily Mail's Banish the Bags campaign.

Local residents in the town said on Facebook the baskets were stolen because people refused to pay for bags.



Lisa Thomas who started a conversation on Facebook, said: 'I went into that big supermarket in Ruthin yesterday and couldn’t find a basket anywhere, when I asked I was told we only have 12 left because people are pinching them because they won’t buy a bag.

'Personally I think this is disgraceful, come on people of Ruthin, if you won’t donate 5p for a bag, take your own.'

The lack of shopping baskets in the Tesco store has prompted a flood of complaints from shoppers.

Tommy Milner from Ruthin, Denbighshire, who is disabled and has difficulty shopping emailed the Tesco Service Team in August to find out why he couldn’t find a basket.

'They did have some but try finding one is near impossible, I have a severe disability and find shopping most difficult at times. This just adds to the stress.'

Empty: A rack where there should be an abundance of baskets but the whole store has only 16 left

'I got a phone call from Tesco customer services saying the Ruthin store has 16 baskets in total left and I am informed that one shopper was followed home.

'I was informed 400 to 500 had been stolen, not damaged, stolen, all within 12 months.'

Another Ruthin resident, who didn't want to be named, said: 'When I asked today (September 6) the staff told me that they had been stolen.



'At Christmas there were 500, now there are only 11.”

Ruthin county councillor, Huw Hilditch-Roberts said: 'Members of the public have been approaching me about this on a regular basis. It is a major concern.'

Another resident on Facebook said he saw one customer place their full basket in the boot of their car and drive away.

Tesco shopping baskets are exchanging hands on eBay for around £25 each.

A Tesco spokesman admitted that the theft of shopping baskets was a problem and said: 'We are in the process of implementing measures to help stop baskets being taken from the store in future.'