Vince Cable

Following objections from local pharmacists, residents' groups and MP Vincent Cable, the council planning sub-committee has rejected an application from Sainsbury to open a dispensing pharmacy at its Hampton store on Uxbridge Road.

Vincent Cable said that "this was an important victory for community pharmacists and our struggling town centres in the fact of pressure from one of the two biggest supermarket chains".

Under new rules, the supermarkets can complete with local pharmacists provided they get the permission of both the council for planning permission and the NHS primary care trust. All over the country supermarkets are getting into the pharmacy business and community pharmacists fear that they are being driven out.

Vincent Cable said: "community pharmacists perform a valuable service which goes beyond just being shops and dispensing prescription medicines. They can make home deliveries where this is needed. And the footfall they generate can be a key factor in maintaining local shopping centres, as in Hampton Hill, Hampton and Whitton".