MG LLOYD'S case for a Tesco store in Tenbury in the February 23, issue of the Tenbury Wells Advertiser is based upon a fundamental delusion: namely, that it will bring new business into the rest of Tenbury's High Street.

There is no evidence for this, and experience elsewhere shows that this does not happen. Tesco will sell products which are already available in Tenbury in other shops.

However, it will have the advantage of a car park and a complete range of products under one roof. It is just not credible that shoppers, having completed their shopping in Tesco, will go on to bring new custom to the rest of Tenbury. Inevitably, a substantial proportion of Tesco's sales will be at the expense of Tenbury's existing retailers, retailers who are already reeling from the effects of the current economic crisis, compounded by the impact of the closure of the Teme bridge. Shop closures on a substantial scale must be expected; and it should be borne in mind that the closures will be of shops that have given great service to Tenbury over many years and have made it the attractive little town it is today.

If M G Lloyd and others who are busily promoting this disastrous scheme do not believe me, they should read what Sainsbury's Chief Executive (Justin King) recently had to say about the future of the high street (reported in The Telegraph on February 12). He said that "supermarkets reflect society...many shoppers do not have time to potter between the butcher, the baker and the grocer...

what I think we need to do is...be brave enough to shrink the high street and allow empty shops to be converted to other uses such as residential..." No nonsense here about supermarkets bringing new life to the high street.

At least Sainsburys are being honest about the impact which supermarkets are having upon the high street. Those who are promoting Tesco's planning application on the basis that it will bring new life to Tenbury's high street, however, are either deluded or are seeking to delude others.

It is time for an honest debate about what Tenbury will be like if Tesco wins its planning application; and whether that is really what the people of Tenbury and the surrounding area truly want.

The overwhelming majority of people who have registered their views with the county planners have made it clear that this is a development which they do not want. They do not want to see the heart taken out of their town. It is time the planners and our elected representatives started listening.

R L HUGHES BICKLEY TENBURY WELLS