I WRITE in response to the Stop Tesco Campaign featured in the Weston Mercury on June 19.

I WRITE in response to the Stop Tesco Campaign featured in the Weston Mercury on June 19. Both sites for the proposed new Tesco Express stores in Weston are less than a mile from, and within easy walking distance of the main Tesco store in the centre of town, so why are they needed? Anyone choosing to shop at Tesco would have a much greater choice at the larger town centre store, so why would they bother shopping at a Tesco Express? Neither of the proposed areas are lacking in shops for grocery shopping, so it is not necessary to have a new Tesco convenience store there.

I regularly use the local shops in Whitecross Road, it is a thriving local community with a local Co-op and independent shops - butcher, baker, greengrocer, chemist, newsagent, florist and more, offering fresh local produce, of excellent quality at reasonable prices without the excess packaging found in Tesco. The queues are far shorter than in Tesco and you are always greeted with a friendly smile. It is possible to buy all the groceries you need there without going into the town centre.

Anyone who likes to have a choice of where they can shop, cares about their carbon footprint and local employment in local businesses to benefit local people, should say "no" to Tesco, before it is too late. I am not anti-Tesco. I do use their main town store. However, if they want to expand, perhaps they should consider putting Tesco Expresses in rural villages that no longer have a shop or are about to loose the post office, which is the only shop they have.

MARY ANNEGARN

Via email