A very civil war as town's traders try to take on their superstore neighbour

It's 10 years since Booths opened its doors in the North Yorkshire market town and for the past decade the family-run chain and the independent shops just a few minutes walk away have rubbed along pretty nicely.

However, a few months ago the status quo was disturbed when Booths applied for the restrictions on what it can and can't sell to be lifted.

The rumblings of discontent have now resulted in the formation of Love Settle Shops, a group which comes with the politest of mission statements – "please don't change," read the posters, imploring Booths to have a rethink, "we like you just the way you are".

However, behind the softly, softly approach, a real fear is brewing among the shopkeepers whose businesses line the historic market square. If the proposal is approved – last week it was given the backing of the Town Council – they say it could spell the beginning of the end of the independents.

"We don't have a problem with Booths, but we do have a big problem with what they are about to do," says Tom Algie, whose hardware shop Practically Everything, does exactly what its name suggests. "If the restrictions are lifted, they will be able to sell newspapers, hot food and even clothes. They will be in direct competition with many small businesses and it just seems to many of us that they are being greedy."

On Boxing Day last year, Tom opened his shop and left an honesty box for customers who found they had suddenly run out of batteries or bin bags. When he returned the next day, nothing had been stolen and 187.66 had been left in takings. Many were astounded by his faith and the honesty of those who popped in. Not Tom. He expected nothing less from the quiet rural town and it's exactly that community spirit he thought Booths wanted to be part of.

According to the supermarket's website, Edwin Henry Booth started the company with one ambition "to sell the best goods he could buy in shops staffed with first-class assistants. Today we hold true to our founder's vision and take great pride in the quality in our business. We also work hard to engage with the communities within which we trade..." It's this last pledge the independent shopkeepers of Settle feel the company is about to renege on.

"We really thought Booths was different to the big supermarket giants," adds Tom, whose business has been in Settle for eight years and in the same premises for the last six. "But it looks like we were wrong. The danger is that because the Town Council voted in favour of the plans, people higher up will think the whole town is backing Booths. They're not.

"More than 90 per cent of retailers are against the move. A couple of months ago, someone bought the paper shop, but that was on the basis that these restrictions would remain in place. I know everyone wants to support local businesses, but if they can pick up a newspaper while they're doing the weekly shop, they will; it's human nature.

"We're all really disappointed, but I'm hopeful Booths can be persuaded to have a last-minute rethink and really consider the damage this could do to their reputation in Settle."

With the planning application due to be discussed in private by Craven District Council on Monday, momentum behind Love Settle Shops is gathering momentum. To date, 40 retailers have signed up to the attempt to serenade Booths into submission and urge the authority to protect what they see as the unique character of the place.

One of them is Daniel Nelson, whose family has been making shoes in the town since 1847, some 30 years before the Settle to Carlisle railway opened to passengers and put the town on the map.

"In the last 10 years, we've already lost two bakers and one butcher," says Daniel, who is the seventh generation of his family to work in the business. "I'm not saying they went out of business directly because of Booths, but if these restrictions are lifted it would seem to me to be the start of a downward spiral."

Nelson Footwear has been making clogs for more than 150 years and, while its not the kind of product Booths is ever likely to stock, Daniel knows he may not be immune from the increased competition.

"It's been a tough couple of years for everyone who owns their own business," he says. "But most of us have come through the other side. Lots of people come to Settle because they enjoy wandering around the market square and seeing the kind of shops you don't find anywhere else. We're all just picking ourselves up from recession and this just feels to a lot of people like a kick in the teeth."

Booths has tried to allay fears it is a retail Goliath intent on some kind of monopoly in Settle. A statement issued by the company says: "We value the relationship which has built up between ourselves and Settle town. We are looking forward to our application for the removal of the trading restrictions being considered favourably by the council and being able to further develop our business for the benefit of the wider community."

The underlying sentiment is what's good for Booths is good for Settle, but they're words which are unlikely to bring much consolation to those worried about their own livelihoods. While any protest against expansion plans, inevitably brings accusations of nimbyism, those behind Love Settle Shops insist they aren't the kind of intransigent community which is resistant to change.

Up until 18 months ago, Steve Craig worked as an analyst for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Desperate to throw off the corporate shackles, he and his family moved from Norfolk to Settle and have been running Castleburgh Outdoors ever since.

"I'd always harboured the dream of running my own business and my wife's originally from West Yorkshire so there was a definite pull north," he says. "We took the plunge and have ploughed everything we had in to the business.

"Last year we had our third child so it's been pretty hectic, but we've never once regretted the move. It's an idyllic place to bring up

children. But a picture postcard setting alone doesn't pay the bills and we completely share the concerns of the more established businesses.

"If Booths increase the amount of products they stock,

it stands to reason footfall will be diverted away from the market square. In the last two years, 10 businesses have either just started up or come under new ownership and some, like the local paper shop

could see their trade drop by 30 per cent.

"Everyone who runs their own business here works really hard to make it a success and they would welcome anything that either brought more people into the centre or raised the profile of the independent shops.

"The argument seems logical to us, if we thought Booths' proposals would benefit Settle, we would be wholeheartedly in favour them. Sadly, we just don't see how it can."

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