Colchester Council should forget a tax on supermarkets and make town centre parking cheaper instead, it is claimed.

The council’s Trading Board discussed the idea of an 8.5 per cent levy on large-scale retailers, which would generate £1.4million per year.

But Will Quince, leader of the opposition Conservative group, warned the move would deter out-of-town retailers from investing in Colchester.

He said: "It is a tax on Colchester’s families and producers, because when supermarkets are squeezed, the consumer gets squeezed, as do the producers."

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