A COMPETITION Commission investigation into the grocery market has been welcomed by farming organisations.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) called for an inquiry after receiving more than 1,200 comments from businesses and consumers.
The OFT believes the planning system makes it difficult for shops to open and compete with existing stores. It said land held by supermarkets could aggravate the situation and it has examples of them applying restrictions when selling sites.
Peter Kendall, National Farmers' Union president, said the Commission must find a way to allow suppliers to speak freely without the fear of losing valuable contracts.
The Country Land and Business Assoociation called for an Ombudsman to police the supermarket code of practice.
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