FIRST we had small suppliers and farmers, especially dairy farmers, being squeezed out of business; then many pubs and clubs were lost because customers are able to spend less for their alcohol requirements elsewhere; and now small garages find they cannot cut their fuel prices enough to continue operating – and the cause of all these losses?

The greed and ever-expansion and bully-boy tactics of supermarkets. I know nothing about the cut-throat methods of business and if all it means are family concerns that have been going for generations being ruined and local pubs disappearing, then I don’t want to know. It is a sorry state of affairs that soon the only concerns able to continue making a profit are supermarkets, having successfully wiped out all the opposition by cutting prices to the bone, because they have the financial support to do it. I cannot believe that it is of benefit to society as a whole because so much trade is being lost and so many are suffering as a result. Is there nothing that the Office of Fair Trade can do to keep small businesses afloat – or does nobody care?

Heather Causnett, Escrick Park Gardens, Escrick, York.