The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Friends of the Earth (FOE) have teamed up to ask shoppers to avoid out of town superstores and to spend their money locally.

They claim shopping locally is environmentally friendly because it cuts car journeys and because smaller shops often stock local products and use less packaging.

A FOE spokesman said:

"If we shop local first we can help our high streets to thrive, as well as benefiting the environment. And once you've recovered from the Christmas festivities, why not make local shopping a new year’s resolution for 2008?"