Tesco has been accused of suffocating small businesses as it prepares to announce record profits of £1.7 billion - a rise of 22 per cent on last year.

The country's biggest supermarket now has a virtual stranglehold on the food market in some parts of the country, including Hove where it has four stores.

There are Tesco Express outlets in Western Road, Denmark Villas, Dyke Road and The Droveway and a larger supermarket in Church Road, which opened last year.

There is also a shop in Portslade and a flagship superstore at the Holmbush Centre in Shoreham, which the company hopes to increase in size by a third.

Tesco is the UK's biggest private employer with a staff of more than 225,000 and creates about 10,000 jobs a year.

City experts believe it is one of the best companies in Britain and should be left free of regulation to prosper.

But the supermarket's aggressive expansion policy has left small shopkeepers in Hove reeling.

Paul Cottingham, owner of Cottinghams of Hove, said business had dropped by a third since the superstore opened last September.

He said: "It has had a drastic effect. We have had to lose staff. We cannot compete on price with things like milk and cornflakes so we have to remain competitive by offering something different.

"A lot of my customers have left. I see them walking past with Tesco bags. But you just have to adjust, try to reduce costs and set more realistic profit margins."

Trevor Freeman, from the Brighton and Hove branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "Tesco is hurting not only food retailers but booksellers and music sellers.

"Customers might benefit in terms of a reduction in cost but they lose in terms of choice.

"A multiplicity of shops means a multiplicity of choice.

"They always claim they are creating a lot of jobs but they are also destroying jobs and I doubt there has been a net gain in Hove."

A Tesco spokesman said: "An independent survey has shown that where a Tesco Express opens it attracts more visitors to the area and they will visit other shops.

"Tesco Express reinvigorates, rejuvenates and breathes new life into high streets rather than killing them off."

Tuesday April 20, 2004