Response: Supermarkets don't regenerate communities – they hoover money out

These big stores destroy local economies, and hit the poorest especially hard

You report the claims of a new study from Demos that "big supermarket chains have a key role to play in regenerating Britain's poorest communities" (Supermarket chains can transform poor areas, says thinktank, 7 June).

But evidence from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation of a Tesco-led regeneration scheme in Leeds concluded that it was disastrous for the local economy and destroyed the existing retail base.

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