CORNWALL county council has asked supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury in Truro to charge customers for using their car parks.

The suggestion from councillors is not expected to go down well with the companies but follows concern over the impact of free parking at out-of-town stores in the county and the need to maintain thriving town centres.

If charges are made by the supermarkets, most of which have parking for well over 200 cars each, it would lead to a huge burden on shoppers.

But Truro's two main out-of-town supermarkets are not thought to be considering changing their current policy "for the time being" and yesterday said they knew little about the proposal. They were reluctant to comment in detail until they were fully aware of the approach by the county council.

A spokesman for Sainsbury's said: "We, as of yet, have not been approached by Cornwall county council with regard to parking charges in our car parks. Our general policy on such things as this varies from store to store. Some stores do not own the car park area around them and it is something that would have to be looked at on an individual store basis. The Truro store currently does not charge for parking and will remain like that for the time being."

Tesco are unlikely to change their current policy although do have a car park official monitoring the length of stay by motorists.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "Tesco provides free parking for all of its customers, many of whom are on low or fixed incomes, to make their shopping experience as easy as possible."

Some stores do levy a charge to shoppers if parking for long periods but few implement it.

Members of the county council's environment policy and scrutiny committee want to see car park charging extended to cover all the supermarket sites in the Duchy. They said that as supermarkets were often located outside or on the edge of towns they undermined the vitality of town centres by making it cheaper and more convenient to park and shop. They were keen to seek the views of all supermarket operators within the county on the principle of charging.

Joyce Mepsted, chairman, said: "This approach is supported by the findings of the recent study on Sustainable Transport Choices and the Retail Sector undertaken at the request of the government by the UK Commission for Integrated Transport.

"The study promoted an equitable situation for access and parking at town centres, edge of town and out of town locations. The study recommended that the costs of providing car parking at the three locations should be estimated, compared and equalised on a per space basis."

The UK Commission for Integrated Transport believe the absence of parking fees at out-of-town shopping centres draws drivers away from high street stores in town centres and so distorts the market.

CfIT want to see local authorities taking the right decisions to support the high street and their recommendations based on the study conclude that there should be a "levelling of the playing field" for parking charges between town centre and out-of-town shopping areas, with some out of town centres introducing charges, and regional agreements where necessary to prevent undercutting and consequent "trade drain" out of the area.