LIKE barbecue cooking and mowing the lawn, pushing the trolley around the supermarket has become the domain of millions of British men.

So when the opportunity arose to test drive three new revolutionary trolleys at a local supermarket, it was odds on that one of us chaps would be assigned to the job.

After years of wobbly wheels and dubious steering with a mind of its own, the thought of a trolley that actually went in the direction you wanted it to without Herculean feats of strength was quite appealing.

The test drive was held at the Safeway superstore in Victoria Road, Darlington, as part of the company's nationwide Italian food festival, Viva Italia Safeway.

Supermarket bosses challenged students from a London design college to come up with a trolley for the 21st century with a distinctly continental twist.

The entries were whittled down to three prototypes: the environmentally friendly Green Machine, the circular Threesixty and the "Lambretta-style" Scootertrolley.

Having tried out all three, I have to say that the Green Machine would be very good for older people, with its integral removable bags, while the Scootertrolley would be good fun for families with children.

However, for overall performance the Threesixty has to be the Rolls-Royce of shopping trolleys, gliding effortlessly in any direction and operable with one hand even when full of shopping.

The Scootertrolley was definitely the most fun, but with steering virtually non-existent, stopping difficult and a tendency to topple from side to side, it would need a lot of refinement to avoid disasters among the detergents.

Mr Jon Daly, Safeway store equipment development manager, said: "We're constantly looking at ways we can update and improve the trolleys we offer, so the testing in Darlington will give us valuable insights.

"If shoppers give the new trolleys the thumbs up, we will analyse the designs in more detail to see if they offer any long-term viability."

MARKS OUT OF TEN

Green Machine. - Manoeuvrability 8; Capacity 6; Style 7. Overall rating: 21 out of 30.

Scootertrolley. - Manoeuvrability 1; Capacity 9; Style 8. Overall rating: 18.

Threesixty. - Manoeuvrability 10; Capacity 8; Style 6. Overall rating: 24.