Chancellor 'easing curbs on retail malls'

Chancellor Gordon Brown was today accused of being behind a government move to relax curbs on out-of-town shopping centres.

Environmental campaigners charged ministers with slipping out proposals which could destroy high streets by making it easier for big stores to expand on the edge of town.

Officials working for John Prescott, who oversees the planning system, drafted revised guidance to councils and put it out for comment. But there was little publicity and the consultation, which has ended, was understood to have attracted few responses.

Mr Brown, who has spoken of the need to ease planning restrictions on firms, was reported to have pushed for the changes against Mr Prescott's opposition. Planning guidance states out-of-town hypermarkets, selling food and other goods, should be rejected if the same land space is available closer to the town centre. The rule applies to new shops and extensions to existing stores.

The Government's proposals would exempt extensions from the test, allowing big retailers to start with a medium-sized store on a bypass and build it up.

The new rules would force councils, which take planning decisions, to "take into account any genuine difficulties in operating the applicant's business model" - allowing retailers like Ikea, whose stores are all large, to plead for exemption.

Neil Sinden of the Campaign to Protect Rural England said: "If the new policy were adopted in its current form it could have a devastating effect on the ability of local planners to control retail development."