An idea to protect valuables while shopping in supermarkets is being trialled in Nuneato. It came from members of the Warwickshire Police Business Crime Team and the Warwickshire County Council’s Community Safety Team.
The ?Trolley Safe’ is a device fitted onto a shopping trolley into which personal items such as purses or handbags can be placed while shopping.
The idea was first penned by Peter Guillaume from the Business Crime Team and Tony Archer from the Community Safety Team, during a Jill Dando Institute training course in the spring of 2007.
The pair considered how opportunist thieves were known to operate within supermarkets and concluded that the number of such thefts could be reduced, if a barrier could be created between shoppers’ valuables and prospective thieves. The ?Trolley Safe’ idea began. Working with German trolley manufacturer Wanzl, which has a Leamington- based UK headquarters, and with support from Government Office for the West Midlands and Asda, a ?prototype’ safe was commissioned.
The prototype has now been fitted to 238 trolleys at the Asda store in Nuneaton as part of a three-month trial.
Cllr Richard Hobbs, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Protection, said: "The aim of this trial is to evaluate the use of the ?trolley safe’ and its value in relation to crime prevention".
"Warwickshire County Council and its’ partners are always on the look-out for innovative ways to help make the county an even safer place to live."
Peter Guillaume, Business Crime Unit Manager for Warwickshire Police, said: " "This is great Partnership activity which has the potential to make a big impact on the future design of shopping trolleys and crime prevention. "
Doug Chipperfield, Technical Development Manager for Wanzl, added: "The development of the trolley safe has been a valuable opportunity for Wanzl to help bring peace of mind to shoppers. "
Steve Storey, Loss Prevention/Product Protection Manager with Asda, said: "Trolley Safe is great way to ensure all of our customers can happily shop in the knowledge that their belongings will be extra secure".
