I was dismayed to read Coun Bell's letter You Can Help Save Shops (Citizen Jan 25). It concluded: 'The superstore only option will take you all down a slippery slope indeed.'

What nonsense! Market forces dictate the success or otherwise of businesses and so the consumer will determine the future of the retail mix, be that one of supermarket monopoly or otherwise.

Chorley town centre may be losing out to competition provided by mass market retailers. This highlights Chorley's failure to offer a modern retail experience.

Small independent traders catering for anything other than niche markets have no future in the high street. Let them be gone.

Consumers now demand choice, quality and value presented in a pleasant environment. Most don't wish to shop in street markets, at discount pound shops, or charity shops, they want the benefits of shopping with mass market retailers.

Should national high street stores not be encouraged to locate in Chorley, the town centre will be swamped with yet more charity shops. That indeed is a slippery slope from which there is no return.

Steve Cross (Address supplied)