A campaign urging people to use their local shops instead of out-of-town supermarkets has been backed by a business pressure group.

The Friends of the Earth (FoE) Shop Local First campaign is supported by the East Sussex branch of the Federation of Small Businesses which warned local shops could soon be "lost forever".

FoE campaigners said Government research showed the average supermarket produced as much carbon dioxide as 60 greengrocers.

The British Retail Consortium (BRA) said the research showed supermarkets were more energy-efficient than small food shops.

The row pre-empts an Office of Fair Trading report into supermarket dominance in the marketplace which is expected to be published within the next two weeks.

Peter Archer, the federation's East Sussex regional chairman, said: "Unless people appreciate the service, flexibility and unique selling points of their local small shops, they will be lost forever. These valuable community resources can be taken for granted.

"One day soon shoppers could look around their High Street and wonder where the shops have gone. We welcome the initiative by Friends of the Earth and fully support it."

FoE said independent shops were being driven out of business as more people turn to large supermarket chains.

These produce three times as much carbon dioxide per square metre of floor space as greengrocers and twice as much as butchers or corner shops.

But BRA director general Kevin Hawkins said the figures, drawn from research carried out for the Government by Sheffield Hallam University, did not support FoE's claims.

He said: "The average supermarket produces three times the carbon dioxide that a greengrocer does but in terms of floor space, the average supermarket in Hallam's research is 20 times bigger than the average greengrocer - 1,500 square meters against 76 square meters.

"So the efficiency with which the average supermarket uses energy is much better than the performance of the average greengrocer."

The main four chains - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrison's - control three quarters of the grocery market. Tesco alone has a 30 per cent share.

Meanwhile Tesco has announced plans to spend £100 million on sustainable environmental technology like wind turbines and solar and geothermal power.

The company also plans to build a store in Aylsham, Norfolk, which will be made entirely out of recyclable materials such as wood and plastics.

It has pledged to cut the amount of energy it uses in its stores by half by 2010 compared with consumption levels in 2000.

Tuesday, May 2, 2006