Andrew Warmington of Ledbury, says petitions are not a reliable indicator (From Hereford Times)

Andrew Warmington of Ledbury, says petitions are not a reliable indicator

8:00am Wednesday 16th May 2012 in Letters

WE keep seeing unsupported assertions from the pro- Sainsbury’s camp that the majority of Ledbury people wanted an out-of-town supermarket.

In reality, it is impossible to be sure either way because neither of the reliable ways of finding out – an actual referendum or a properly constructed, third party survey of a statistically significant number of randomly chosen residents – has ever taken place.

The petitions against the earlier Tesco and in favour of the Sainsbury’s are not very good evidence, because it is impossible to control who signs petitions. They can be signed multiple times, with false names or by children and nonresidents.

ANDREW WARMINGTON, Ledbury.