This means that a rare victory against the march of the supermarkets has been won by those fighting against the cutprice food giants plan to open a store in the town's Market Road.

Following a Public Inquiry into the issue, the Scottish Government's Reporter conducting the inquiry in May has thrown out Aldi's appeal against an earlier refusal of planning permisson.

His decision has sparked jubilation amongst opponents to the scheme, not least the independent, small shopkeepers who claimed the new supermarket would swamp and kill off Biggar's prosperous and diverse High Street.

South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) had similar fears, leading to its refusal of the Aldi bid to build on what was the site of the sheep pens for the old Biggar Market — next to the town's only existing supermarket, a Co-operative store.

Just about the only other 'chain' foodstore is a Spar shop on the High Street.

In his lengthy report on the Public Inquiry, the reporter, Malcolm Mahony, noted that the new Aldi store, with an expected annual turnover of almost £3 million, would instantly corner half of the entire existing convenience shopping turnover for Biggar.

The opponents of the scheme said that, with a population of just 2240, Biggar was just not big enough for Aldi.

Proving or disproving this argument was difficult because of conflicting trading figures and statistics presented to the reporter by opposing parties.

Crucial was the argument over exactly what Biggar's shopping catchment area was; it was argued that it would take in all communities in a 15 minute drive.

This, said the Reporter, would include Carnwath but a phone survey carried out by SLC showed that only one per cent of shoppers there surveyed would consider using Biggar for supermarket shopping.

Biggar Business Group — which led the objections — produced evidence from the allied Scottish Grocers' Federation that it would be the smallest town Aldi had created a store in throughout the UK.

The Reporter said Biggar "appears to me a thinly populated area compared with Aldi's usual trading locations."

However, he respected Aldi's argument that currently around two-thirds of supermarket shopping by people living in the Biggar area was done outside the town itself, usually in Lanark.

Aldi argued it would stop shop spending leakage from the Biggar economy by providing a large supermarket in the town, making life more convenient for local residents and cutting down on environmentally-damaging shopping trips.

Aldi's claim that it could cut down this leakage by 66 per cent was, however, deemed highly optimistic by the reporter.

He generally agreed that the impact on the existing Biggar shops of an Aldi opening in town would be to see their income reduce by about 20 per cent; it was doubtful if the small traders could survive.

He said that he largely bought the argument put by the Biggar Business Group that the town was already well served by its existing shops.

He therefore thought that there were few gaps in the town's shopping needs.

The reporter said that the potential damage to Biggar's existing trade from the new Aldi was too great a risk to take.

Local opinion on the issue was divided; the opponents tabled 17 formal letters of objection and a 538 name petition. Aldi countered with postcards in support signed by 330 people at an Open Day it held in the town.

However, the reporter formally rejected the Aldi appeal.
Biggar Business Group hailed the decision as a great — if rare — victory against the supermarket trade which dominates much of the rest of the country.

However, Aldi property director David Grant said: ''Our lawyers are
currently studying the reporter's verdict and we will make a decision shortly as to how to progress.

''We are particularly disappointed for hundreds of local residents who took the time and effort to support Aldi's plan.

''They can rest assured we are fully committed to bringing the Aldi retail offer to Biggar and will redouble our efforts to find a suitable site.''