ON June 26 I found that the trolley I was pulling out of the row at Sainsbury's, Shirley, was splattered with what looked like and almost certainly was, pigeon droppings.

A man was waiting behind me to push his trolley back into the pile, so I asked if I could have his; meanwhile turning to warn the woman about to remove the mucky trolley, of the disgusting state of that particular one.

Having made my way through the throng at the door of the supermarket, I was about to pick out a grapefruit when I realised I was still clutching the £1 coin in my hand - I had not handed it to the poor chap from whom I had acquired the trolley!

Horrified, I decided to explain to the assistant at the customer inquiry desk what I had done and leave the £1 coin there just in case the man thought of asking there.

I wandered around the store collecting my shopping and feeling thoroughly guilty!

The poor man probably now believes he's been conned by a ruthless woman who makes a living out of grabbing trolleys from unsuspecting customers and pocketing the proceeds!

I do hope I see him again at some point, so that I can apologise and convince him that I'm not in the habit of conning £1 coins out of innocent shoppers!

Incidentally, are the authorities responsible for such things not aware of the fact that pigeon droppings are a great hazard to human health?

MRS SUSAN BLAKE, Shirley, Southampton.