TROLLEYS used at thousands of DIY stores and supermarkets have been declared 'dangerous' by a top judge, after a 79-year-old woman tripped over one in Tavistock, shattering both her arms.

In a ruling which threatens to cost retailers millions, Lord Justice Moses said that low-slung, L-shaped, flatbed trolleys — of the type ubiquitous in some other stores — posed a foreseeable risk of serious injury to shoppers.

 The judge made his comments as he ruled Morrisons Supermarkets Plc 80% liable for the accident that befell Jean Palfrey as she searched for pork pies at the chain's branch in Tavistock, in November 2008.

After spotting the pies on the shelves, Mrs Palfrey, of St Anne's Chapel, called out to her husband and took two steps forward.  She tripped over the trolley, which had been left briefly unattended by a shelf stacker.

The damage to Mrs Palfrey's shoulders and arms was so severe she had to spend three months in hospital. 

She remains disabled, with one arm shorter than the other. It was more than two years before she could carry out even basic domestic tasks.

Last Wednesday, appeal court judges awarded the pensioner, who still has to take pain killers, £44,000 damages, ruling that the trolley, which had been left in the centre of an aisle when the stacker went off to help another customer, was dangerous.

Lord Justice Moses said: 'Shoppers walking up and down aisles in supermarkets are expected to be attracted by what is on the shelves; they do not expect to have to look towards the ground. Their attention will be on their shopping and other shoppers.

'Mrs Palfrey was intent on indicating to her husband that she had found the pork pies and all of that would have deflected her attention away from the long, low-based, trolley.'

Despite Morrisons' protestations that similar trollies are a common sight at stores across the country, the judge added: 'The mere fact that this type of trolley is in widespread use throughout the industry does not mean that it is safe.

Using such a trolley as this — low as it was and with the shopper's attention foreseeably at a higher level — was dangerous, said Lord Justice Moses, who was sitting with Sir John Thomas and Lady Justice Black.

He stopped short of ruling that such trolleys could never be safely used — particularly when placed against shelves —  but said it would be 'absurd' to expect members of staff to be posted beside them at all times to warn members of the public of the tripping hazard.

Leaving such a low-lying trolley in the middle of an aisle 'did create a foreseeable risk of injury' and Morrisons had to bear the lion's share of responsibility for the accident, he said.

On top of Mrs Palfrey's damages, Morrisons now face having to pay the substantial legal costs of the case, which have been estimated at close to £200,000.