I HAVE been reading with interest the many letters and articles concerning the potential Tesco store on Plymouth Road in Tavistock.

Tavistock, like every other town in the country, is a mixture of both local and national businesses, and supporting those businesses are the town's populous which every three to four years form the electorate that choose the make up of our town and borough councils.

In principle the unelected Tavistock Chamber of Commerce does an admirable job of supporting the local businesses, and giving them a group voice against the larger national businesses, however, on this occasion I feel that their efforts are misguided.

Currently anyone wishing to visit Tesco is faced with a reasonable drive to either Launceston, Roborough or Callington, all of these journeys entail unavoidable bottle necks such as Magpie and Greystone Bridges, in the summer this just adds to the congestion caused by the much needed tourism trade.

By its own admission (from its website) Tavistock Chamber of Commerce says 'it acts as a pressure group, acting for the best interest of the business community of Tavistock', also on their website there's a link to a spreadsheet that gives a breakdown of its membership.

Approx 22% of businesses registered don't have business in Tavistock and at first glance approx 72.5% of its membership would not be in competition with Tesco.

Listed at 69 in the spreadsheet is Tavistock Town Council, an elected body that represents the people of Tavistock, and should be the people's voice.

Shaun Watchorn