A town newsagent petitioning to gain more control over increasing fees imposed by newspaper wholesalers is delighted to gain his MP's support.

Stephen Smith, the owner of Sandra's Super Shop in Alcester Road, started a petition along with other town stores to stop wholesalers using their monopoly position to dictate terms to newsagents.

The findings of a recent Office of Fair Trading review into newspaper suppliers discovered the wholesale market for newspapers has become concentrated in the hands of three companies - WHSmiths, Menzies and Surridge Dawson. But the store owner claims increasing carriage charges and delivery charges have hit some small businesses hard.

Stephen, along with his wife and co-owner Sandra, gained 100 signatures on their petition.

"We have had to agree to the high carriage charges but our delivery charges have gone up twenty-five per cent in the past three years.

"It adds so much pressure to small businesses as they can't shop around and have to concede to the new prices.

"But we are saying enough is enough or newsagents will die out in the same way grocers and butchers have done over the years." He added he was thrilled that the town's MP, Julie Kirkbride, had joined the campaign and her involvement would stir local interest. Miss Kirkbride has signed an All Party motion in the House of Commons which calls on the Office of Fair Trading to back the demands of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents to take action against the wholesaler's monopoly.

She said: "We all very much value our local newspaper shop and it's only fair that our local newsagent should be able to buy his newspapers from different suppliers.

"The present state of the wholesale market means that local newsagents are being obliged to pay high carriage charges, putting some out of business."

by Lisa Heritage