Women's Institute members in Cornwall are to boycott supermarkets in order to support small shops. The decision was made at the county WI's annual meeting in Truro, following a resolution from the Lerryn branch. The members are now hoping to take the idea nationwide and will take it to the national conference in June next year. If the motion is approved nationally, then the quarter of a million other members could do the same thing. 'It's absolutely vital we support our village and local shops and we are therefore calling for members to use these shops rather than out- of-town supermarkets,' said Nan Collier, chairman of the Cornwall Federation of Women's Institutes. 'People living in rural areas like Cornwall rely on local shops. It's extremely difficult for elderly people or young families without transport to get to the big shops. 'Local shops are the heart of many a Cornish village and they deserve our help in preserving them. 'This motion does represent the feelings of 4,500 members of Cornwall WI.' The motion also called for members to go out and consult their local shops in order to lobby local councils for systems that would support them. Simon Bishop, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: 'We are delighted the WI is taking this initiative. 'Small businesses need all the support they can get to redress the imbalance between local shops and the big supermarkets which currently control 89 per cent of the food market in this country. Small shops lose out to the convenience of the big store, for example with parking. In pedestrianised town centres there isn't enough parking allocation for shoppers. The WI is right to plan to lobby local councils to help small shops.' Ian Cunningham, a spokesman for ASDA, said: 'We make a real contribution to local communities. 'We have the most extensive local produce sourcing programme and employ around 145,000 people nationally. 'We put a lot in to local communities all over the UK.'