Sir,

I am afraid that Mr. Peter Jenkins misses the point pretty comprehensively when he welcomes the proposed Tesco to New Hedges (Observer letters April 17).

Tenby is remarkably fortunate for a small town in the number of independent retailers that it enjoys. Furthermore, most of them make a point of stocking excellent Pembrokeshire produce. Before coming to Tenby to live, we lived in High Wycombe, a town with much the same population as the whole of Pembrokeshire, and High Wycombe has lost all of its independent food retailers; choice is about Sainsbury's or Tesco, Morrisons or Asda. This experience is not unusual, every study has confirmed that large out of town shops destroy town centres.

Does it matter if some shoppers choose the big retailers? In business profit is made at the margin; if 20 per cent of the shoppers who presently shop in Tenby transfer their business to a new superstore, the Tenby businesses are likely to fail. The 80 per cent of us who are loyal to the Tenby shops will be compelled to go to Tesco. Choice will be reduced for most people and (since those who choose to shop in the superstore could go to Pembroke Dock) will be increased for no-one.

And how about jobs and investment? People in Pembrokeshire are not going to buy more food just because Tesco opens in New Hedges. We shall see a transfer of jobs from other businesses to Tesco and, because Tesco is a very efficient company and its 'back-office' operations are outside Pembrokeshire, the net effect is bound to be a reduction in local employment. Even worse, I strongly suspect that the local shops are more closely tied into Pembrokeshire food producers than a local Tesco will ever be. By the time Tesco has brought in its New Zealand lamb and repatriated its profits to Hertfordshire, Pembrokeshire will be a lot poorer for its presence.

Having had a successful career in business, I am not by any means against big companies, but I am also aware of the dangers of inviting an elephant to tea, and Tenby is too special to risk the experience.

Douglas Fraser,

Tenby.