Why would the finder require my password when I trash a file?

Question

Every time I attempt to drag a file or folder (or use the keyboard shortcut) to the trash I receive the notification 'the finder is trying to make changes' and asked for my password.
Once I enter the password the file or folder disappears and the empty trash sound is played.  The trash itself remains empty.
I've repaired disk permissions in the hope it would fix the problem but it doesn't.
Why is this happening and how can I make it stop?
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul.

Answer 1

1. Triple-click the line below to select it:
~/.Trash
2. Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Show Info
from the contextual menu.* An Info dialog should open.
3. The dialog should show "You can read and write" in the Sharing & Permissions section. If that's not what it shows, click the padlock icon in the lower right corner of the window and enter your password when prompted. Use the plus- and minus-sign buttons to give yourself Read & Write access and "everyone" No Access. Delete any other entries in the access list.
4. In the General section, uncheck the box marked Locked if it's checked.
5. From the action menu (gear icon) at the bottom of the dialog, select Apply to enclosed items and confirm.
6. Close the Info window and test.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). Open a TextEdit window and paste into it (command-V). Select the line you just pasted and continue as above.