Sir – Unlike Vernon Porter (Letters, January 19) I have found it easy to do most of my food shopping at the Co-op in Summertown for at least 20 years.

It is convenient for me for shopping with a bicycle which the large out of town supermarkets are not and there is a delivery service if I buy too much to carry.

I also have the satisfaction of knowing that the money is going to a co-operative which supports the local community more generously than its plc competitors.

As a member I also have a real say in the running of the business and I get dividend which I can donate to a charity if I wish.

In this, the UN International Year of Co-operatives, I look forward to an increasing range of products including many Fairtrade and local food products, quite a few of which come from other co-operatives both here and abroad.

I do agree with him though that Summertown would have benefited more from something other than another supermarket.

Sheila Allen, Oxford