SIR, These are some of the findings from having studied and researched the Grange-over-Sands Retail Study document in detail, especially in connection with the supermarket proposal.

1 What do the authors of the Study say about Grange-over-Sands?

"We consider the convenience provision in Grange Town Centre to be good in terms of meeting local residents' day-to-day needs".

So why do the consultants say that a "supermarket is urgently needed in Grange"?

It is because they believe that all residents of post code areas LA11 6 and LA11 7 (even those only living four miles from Windermere) should shop in Grange; and it is wrong for residents to shop outside the designated area and they must be made to shop with whichever supermarket chain the district council decides will have their support in Grange.

Unfortunately, the consultants found that a major proportion of residents and visitors were satisfied with Grange, provided car parking and traffic management could be improved.

2 What did the consultants do next to identify the food shopping patterns in the area?

They telephoned a five per cent sample of people, some as far away as Bowland Bridge and Cartmel Fell, to question them about where they did their bulk shopping'.

But they did not bother to ask these residents what proportion of their money was actually spent outside Grange, so to make the answer easier they made the assumption that Asda and Morrisons shoppers spent all their money in these supermarkets and none in Grange.

3 What did the consultants find out about shops in the Grange area?

They only referred to 11 of the existing 33 convenience shops' and, according to their calculations, eight of these had no customers and only three were specifically named as having customers - Spar, Co-op and Fletchers.

Obviously, the turnover of those shops which exist but have no customers have been missed out from the Grange totals, and we also know that the turnover of the two of the named shops are so understated that the consultants' figures for Grange expenditure are worthless.

Altogether 190 people are employed in the 33 shops and make a living by selling a lot of goods the consultants failed to record by their oversimplified and biased questions.

They also tried to show how little money was spent by people in Grange by drawing attention to the fact that people usually spent, on average, no more than £10 per visit. They failed to notice or understand their own survey results, which showed that most people shopped five times a week!

The survey also contains such unsupported comments as a significant number of Grange retail businesses are on the market and many of the existing proprietors are nearing retirement'. There are no empty shops in Grange and the owners and staff look remarkably young, fit and healthy.

The figures in the study for what people spend in and around Grange are little more than half what they actually are, meaning that the amount of money which could be attracted back to Grange would not support even a small supermarket, without taking business from existing shops to make it viable.

This would put at risk many of the 190 jobs and the shops in Grange and the surrounding villages.

It is a pity the consultants could not have been more innovative by suggesting alternatives to the supermarket.

Ron Shapland Grange-over-Sands