IMMEDIATELY after Radio Two's Monday morning debate on farmer Tony Martin and the rights of burglars, the subject turned to shopping trolleys.

A strange juxtaposition, but fair play to the Tesco marketing advisor, you couldn't knock her passion and sincerity for her chosen topic.

Bemused, I listened in and discovered bizarrely that one in five people questioned in a national survey wanted to see trolley traffic wardens and trolley no parking zones in their local stores.

Others interviewed in the Tesco poll suggested "shopping lanes" and "one-way" aisles.

What the penalty would be for cutting up another shopper in the frozen veg section, God only knows.

Having your hand thrust into the freezer for five minutes by a burly trolley cop, perhaps?

Trolley rage may seem ridiculous but, according to the 800-shopper survey, as a nation, we clock up 580 million trolley miles a year - the equivalent of five million times round the M25.

The average Tesco shopper pushes his or her trolley 2,400 miles in a lifetime - the same distance as halfway round the coastline of Britain, with an average speed of two to three mph in a car in congested central London.

It's a serious business that's steadily eradicating the traditional image of the patient, queuing British customer.

One city resident, Sam Scott, certainly doesn't hold back when it comes to trolley rage, admitting muttering "brainless idiots" regularly during his five-times-a-week shopping sessions at Tesco in Warndon Villages and St Peter's.

"It's more frustration than rage," said the 32-year-old.

"I just can't believe it when people stand around chatting and blocking the aisles.

"They seem to be completely unaware there are other shoppers wanting to use that particular section and just stand there.

"Don't they realise people have lives to lead?"

His wife Caroline, on the other hand, is bewildered by her other half's "moronic" behaviour and has even suggested putting a horn on the front of his trolley.

"He tries to make a point by staring at people or hopping from one foot to another to make it clear he is trying to get past," she said.

"But I think you have to be a moron not to be able to manoeuvre your trolley around a supermarket without having a fit.

"He basically drives his trolley like he drives his car."

It seems, however, that Mr Scott is in the minority when it comes to trolley tantrums in the Faithful City.

"Our research shows that Worcester shoppers are more than competent in navigating the aisles," a Tesco spokesman said.

"The majority have mild tempers and we have very few incidents of trolley rage in our two stores."

In terms of aisle enforcers, Mr Scott, a chef and BMW driver of Friar Street, Worcester, deemed the idea of trolley wardens a little extreme.

However, he said a sign demonstrating trolley etiquette at the entrance of the store would not go amiss.

The Tesco poll also revealed - unsurprisingly - that 72 per cent of male shoppers believe their driving skills in the supermarket are far superior to those of women.

On the other hand, only just over six out of 10 women rated themselves highly in the trolley rallying stakes.

But whether you're a dab hand or not, trolleys are known to have a mind of their own and can cause a great deal of frustration to shoppers.

So where did this fixture of fascination begin?

The world's first supermarket trolleys began trundling down the grocery aisles in 1937 when inventor, Sylvan Goldman, of Oklahoma, built his push-baskets by fixing baskets and wheels to chairs.

Some male shoppers, however, initially rejected using the four-wheeled contraption, believing it wasn't strong enough to carry a small basket.

And because some women were also slow to warm to the idea, being fed up with already pushing prams around, Goldman admitted he thought the launch of the trolley was a "complete flop".

Although you will still find a renegade trolley lurking in the car park, waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting customer, times have moved on in terms of innovation.

A new type of trolley using satellite navigation has been designed by Murray Laidlaw, of Norwich, Norfolk, to make the food carriers faster and more efficient.

Last year, supermarket Asda invested £2.4m on state-of-the-art "techno trolleys" which automatically stop when they pass an invisible boundary marked by radio waves, in an effort to reduce the number stolen.

The research from Tesco was released to coincide with the launch of Race for Life this week, a series of women-only events, raising money to help treat, cure and prevent cancers that affect women.