BRITAIN'S supermarkets have changed the face of Britain's high streets irrevocably. As the greengrocers, newsagents and corner shops have withered and died, so the supermarkets have grown and prospered.

Where once they sold tins of beans and packets of cornflakes, they have branched out into clothes, electrical goods and now post offices and chemists are springing up at the end of the aisles. They are now the top selling outlets of the Craven Herald

It's rare to find anyone who does not use our supermarkets on a regular basis. It seems strange to go back to the 1970s to see great debate in the town about whether or not what would now be a small supermarket should open in the town centre.

The latest threat is to our independent chemists. Divert a chunk of their trade away to the supermarket and there can be only one result - another empty space ripe for a charity shop.

Britain's shoppers have voted with their feet, curiously at the same time bemoaning the decline of the old shops.

The fate of chemists in our communities lies in our own hands. Abandon them and they will disappear.