LETTER : Labour will lose support if it sides with the super

Since 23,000 independent food shops and co-operatives have disappeared since 1979, your report that supermarkets say they do not directly compete with high-street shops can only emanate from cloud-cuckoo-land.

The major food multiples now enjoy a market share of about 85 per cent, having further increased it since Sunday trading was allowed. Not surprisingly they want more, at the expense of the small retailer who is far more efficient in terms of land use and has minimal impact on the environment. No wonder John Gummer changed Tory planning policy guidance as the effect of out- of-town development on country, town and city became plain for all to see.

Ronald Eyres

London NW5