Leading wholesaler Steve Parfett has suffered a shock defeat in his campaign against a retrospective planning application for a Tesco Extra store in Stockport.
The surprise judgment by Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council came less than two weeks after it had voted against the multiple's application for an additional 18,000sq ft of selling space it was already using without permission. This vote was reversed by the Stockport Highways & Planning Committee.
Parfett, managing director of Parfetts Cash & Carry, said: "Stockport Council has missed the opportunity to prove the law is even-handed and that might doesn't necessarily equal right."
Parfett has been campaigning against the application since the extension opened in November 2004 despite breaching planning by almost 20%. Independents in the area supported the campaign with 232 letters of protest.
He has vowed to continue to fight on and the case has now been referred to Ruth Kelly MP at the office of secretary of state for communities and local government.