THE Competition Commission is to issue its findings today into plans to limit the building of out-of-town super stores – and they could mean “oblivion” for small shops in market towns, says England’s largest rural protection charity.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), a vociferous opponent of supermarket expansion in the countryside, accuses the commission of completely missing the point.

The new proposals would restrict green-field development of bigger stores – but would allow the chains to open smaller shops on market town High Streets.

This, says the CPRE, “could herald the extinction of local stores” and “condemn them to oblivion.” The commission report seems to many observers to be at odds with another Government quango investigating the power of the supermarket chains.

The Office of Fair Trading, which has already exposed collusion by major retail chains to fix the price of dairy products – much to the relief of thousands of farmers – has now launched another investigating into alleged price-fixing of tobacco and scores of every-day household goods.

An announcement is expected this week on the creation of a supermarket Ombudsman to mediate in disputes between farmers and market gardeners on the prices they receive from the major food retailers.