IT is being claimed that more than 350 people work in independent shops in Ludlow and many of their jobs would be at risk if a new supermarket opens on the edge of town.

The Love Ludlow Campaign has conducted its own piece of research and says it has discovered that there are a significant number of people employed in the many independent shops in Ludlow.

According to the campaign these people’s livelihoods are at risk from any new out of town development.

The group claims that more than 350 people are engaged in either full-time or part-time work in the independent retail sector of the town centre alone.

They say that these do not include jobs in the service industry such as cafes, pubs and hair salons, nor market stallholders or even chain retail shops.

As a consequence the Love Ludlow Campaign claims that there will also be major job losses in the established supermarkets in the town when the impact of any new supermarket upon the income of these stores is seen.

“This compares unfavourably with the 210 jobs which the proposed supermarket are saying they may create,“ said Tish Dockerty of the campaign and also secretary of the Ludlow Chamber of Trade.

“When footfall drops in the town centre, which is inevitable if we allow another out of town development, it is these jobs and livelihoods that will be affected, many of which are local families.”

The research also claims to have established that there are many other local businesses forming the supply chain that provide local shops with goods and services in town. An estimate of this suggests around 400 businesses will be affected by the changes in the retail spend caused by an out of town development.

“The proposal for the supermarket has no named chain associated with it so the application is still totally speculative. We have three supermarkets and convenience stores in town which suit a broad range of customers, so how people can say they need a new one is very hard to understand,” added Ms Dockerty.

Campaigners are asking those that are opposed to the application to keep on lodging their views on the Shropshire Council Planning website. The application will take several months before coming to committee due to its size and complexity.

The Love Ludlow Campaign currently has a Facebook page ‘Keep Ludlow Local’ and there is also information on the campaign website www.loveludlow.org.uk

Behind the scheme is a company called Blackfriars Development Limited which is part of the Blackfriars Development Group.

They say that the area will benefit because money that currently goes out of the area to nearby towns like Leominster, Kidderminster and Shrewsbury would be retained in the Ludlow and south Shropshire area.

Blackfriars, who staged a public consultation last year, has said that the scheme would create more than 200 new jobs.