08 November 2005

Tesco tells MPs of aim to double small stores

TESCO, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, has told an inquiry by MPs into the state of the high street that it wants at least to double its number of small shops in the next ten years and has argued that its move into convenience stores had been good for shoppers.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe, the corporate and legal affairs director for Tesco, told a committee chaired by Jim Dowd, Labour MP for Lewisham West, that Tesco had been able to expand over the past ten years because it had “helped transform the lives of ordinary people by taking prices down and improving quality and range (of goods)”.

Continued

Cannabis factory: Man is arrested

ONE thousand cannabis plants and specialist growing equipment were seized by police yesterday morning.

A man was arrested at the house in Ardgowan Road, Catford, by officers from Lewisham's priority crime task force.

Detective Inspector Andy Wilkins, said: "The closure of any cannabis factory will no doubt impact on those who profit from this type of illegal activity and I hope this continues to send out a strong warning to others who may be involved in the production or selling of drugs that you will be caught and the drugs will be seized."