Food News, with Christine Rutter

SHOPPING rage is an all too common experience in supermarkets these days.

And the intricacies of manoeuvring a "drunken" trolley down aisle after aisle can take an extra toll on your temper.

But tipsy trolleys could be a thing of the past - thanks to one man's invention.

It was while struggling to push an awkward trolley down an aisle that Jack Bell hit upon an idea that could revolutionise the shopping experience.

Jack claims to have invented the first shopping trolley which actually moves in the direction the shopper intends - and he is currently in negotiation with a major supermarket chain, who may adopt his idea.

"I was feeling ill in the supermarket and had fought the trolley all the way round the store when my wife Jean began pulling it. Suddenly the wheels aligned and the trolley was going where she wanted it to go," he said.

During his research Jack interviewed shoppers and found that none wanted to pull a trolley.

"All of the people said they were frightened shoppers would take goods out of their trolley if it was behind them."

So Jack had to design a trolley that converted a push action into a pull action to produce a trolley which could be commanded. He claimed: "The mistake inventors were making is they thought the problem was the wheels. It isn't the wheels at all. It is how you push the thing. I have converted the push into a pull."

The patented invention centres on the handrail which is only attached to the very front of the trolley and when used gives the effect of pulling the trolley.

Professional engineer Jack, of Whalley Road, Read, remarked: "The trolleys create a lot of stress, especially at Christmas time when shoppers are already stressed out.

"Trolleys doing there own thing can lead to shopping rage but I think I've solved the problems."

The former managing director of Jable Autosol, Altham, which imports garden equipment, retired eight years ago.

And he spent over a year working on his new design using a number of trolleys supplied to him by a local supermarket.

"It took me longer than expected but eventually I designed a trolley which does as it is told," he said.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.