STORES at a borough shopping centre should clean up their act, according to a prominent borough councillor.

Cllr Martin Biermann, a Chineham borough councillor, is furious at the number of plastic shopping bags that are littering the area.

Hundreds of the bags - from stores across Chineham Shopping Centre - are getting snagged on trees around the centre, especially at Binfields Woodland Park.

Cllr Biermann, an Independent, believes something must be done and soon.

"I've had many complaints from local residents and I personally feel that it's a disgrace," he said.

"I think it's fair to say that it's been a problem for many years and the reaction from the occupiers in the shopping centre has never been very positive. In other words, they say they can't control it and the trees get messy."

Cllr Biermann, who is chairman of the environment overview committee and the environment policy development panel at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, puts a lot of the blame on plastic bags left in shopping trolleys that belong to supermarket giant Tesco and get blown out into the trees.

"I'm not saying it's only Tesco, but I would say that about 80 per cent of that litter emanates from Tesco," added Cllr Biermann.

"It has got lots of profit. A little spent on keeping the place clean and reducing the negative impact has got to be for the best."

Bosses at the shopping centre and at Tesco have said they are aware of the problem and are doing the best they can to get the situation under control.

Hugh Davidson, Chineham Shopping Centre manager, said his staff are keeping the majority of the area free from rubbish.

"We treat the litter problem at the level we can - which is low level - so you won't get too much on the ground," he said. "But we have got a 25-acre site here which is surrounded by woodland, so anything like plastic produce bags that get to the periphery of this site instantly gets caught in the trees.

"We do the best we can to stop anything getting to the tree line, which is fine when it is not windy. But when it is, especially during the winter when we can get some fierce winds catching them before they reach the tree line, it becomes an entertaining sport."

Tesco spokeswoman Jenny Sacre agreed with Mr Davidson.

She said: "We are aware that the plastic bags being caught in the trees has been a problem.

"It is difficult to control but we are working with the shopping complex's manager to improve the situation."

First published: Tuesday, May 3, 2005