Tesco has been accused of launching a spin campaign in order to defend its position as a market heavyweight as the Competition Commission inquiry into the grocery sector prepares to release its initial findings.
The Talking Tesco website - which was intended to “set the record straight” about its projects - has come under fire.
Graham Hoenes, a resident of Gerrards Cross, a Buckinghamshire town that saw a store that Tesco was trying to build over a railway line collapse, said: “They should rename it Talking Bollocks. Instead of putting the record straight, Tesco has just twisted the truth. Their comments are absolutely wrong.”
Hoenes systematically dismissed Tesco’s claims that the Gerard’s Cross store was an “edge-of-town” development, that local residents supported the move and that there was a need for the store.
Lady Caroline Cranbrook, a rural campaigner, said: “It just depresses me when they deny that opening a superstore has an effect on small shops. It’s very difficult arguing with them when they argue that black is white.”
A Tesco spokesman said: “The whole point of Talking Tesco is to put the other view. We don’t expect everybody to agree with what we say. There isn’t a right or wrong on some of these issues.”
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