Rotorua's mayor says cracking down on illegal trolley use is not an attack on homeless people.

Police launched Operation Trolley last week, after complaints homeless people with shopping carts were intimidating the public.

Officers arrested 13 people, gave out 19 trespass notices and returned 45 trolleys to stores.

Te Pati Māori has called it an attack on impoverished people, but mayor Tania Tapsell says that's ridiculous. 

"We are incredibly grateful for the police actioning this - and we've tried a lot as a council. By the way, that cost us $5000 per month when we were trying to fix it up."

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