I always said that I would never respond to anyone who had not the courage of their conviction to sign their name on their views and comments, but there is so much wrong with "Shopper's" letter in the last edition of the Review that I am left with little alternative.

In addition "Shopper" has some difficulty in reading as I clearly stated in my letter of July 12 all the food outlets in the centre of Coleford, including the bakery, and this is pure fact nothing begrudging about it whatsoever.

Of course all the shops in Coleford need preserving, not only those mentioned by the anonymous letter writer, but the likes of Raymond's Famous Store, Carpenter's, Westons, Fairways and all the others, not forgetting those shops in Pyart Court where around six or seven have been forced to close recently.

All these shops gave service to the community and all need customers coming into the town but with the current state of stagnation in Coleford this is being deprived at the present time and we have not got Tesco to blame for this!

I believe some 17 shopping outlets have closed in the last four years in Coleford.

I stand firmly behind my original letter to you and see no point in going over the same detail again.

Yes "Shopper" you are quite right I must be a supermarket fan as is 90 per cent plus of our population!

What has a pottery to fear from Tescos? I would have thought that added people coming into Coleford would be an asset. Incidently I believe this is the only retail outlet now in existence in Gloucester Road which used to be a hive of shopping activity.

As far as the public inquiry is concerned there was little point in attending as the refusal being discussed was for a design disagreement, not to whether Tesco should come to Coleford or not. Am I wrong?

I am reliably informed that only about 15 objectors attended this inquiry that represents about 0.1 per cent of Coleford's shopping catchment area population or to put it another way 99.9 per cent are more than happy with the proposed design!

Probably around 80 per cent to 90 per cent of all goods sold in supermarkets are branded products and competition between different firms is on-going, so I see little difference in any of them, but the choice remains with the consumer and should include Coleford shoppers.

I would have had no worry which supermarket came to Coleford but there certainly is a need for more than one. It is essential. Keeping money within the town is more important than ever. Again this includes the lifting of car parking charges to encourage more visitors.

Again I do not believe that devastation takes place when a supermarket moves in. One local trader has stated that his experience in another town, when Tesco came was that his sales doubled!

Finally, I do not wish to be told by Mr, Mrs, or Ms Anonymous where to shop and I am also more than certain that the shoppers of Coleford don't want to be told that either. With the hundreds of shoppers from this area using Tesco weekly in other locations, not to mention the other supermarket outlets, I can possibly understand why the "Shopper" wanted anonymity.

– Paul Morgan, Coleford.