Community chemists fear new rules.

Community chemists say they could be forced out of business by new rules allowing supermarkets to open 24-hour pharmacies.

The new legislation, expected to be announced on Wednesday, will ease laws controlling the number and location of chemists allowed to dispense NHS prescriptions.

It is in response to an Office of Fair Trading report on competition in the pharmacy industry, which recommended deregulation. Under the plans, licences would be granted to pharmacies willing to open for more than 100 hours a week.

To provide some protection for smaller chemists, under the new rules a licence will be granted to a supermarket only if it is part of a retail development of more than 15,000 square metres. Stores in town centres will not qualify.

But North pharmacists said chemists in shopping centres would inevitably lead to plummeting profits and possible closure of neighbourhood pharmacies. "It's another threat to an already beleaguered profession," said Martin Merriman, vice-chairman of the Northumberland Local Pharmaceutical Committee.

"If services are diluted, it is going to mean the base-line income will be eroded. High-street chemists rely on prescription medicine to keep them afloat."