Many proposals made by the FPB, which was consulted as part of the inquiry, feature in the report. In particular, the FPB is welcoming recommendations to allow smaller retailers to compete more effectively with their larger rivals, such as supermarket chains; proposed planning options to foster a more diverse retail mix; encouragement for local councils to consider the impact of parking charges and similar restrictions on high street trade; and a review of spiralling business rates.

The FPB is urging the Government to heed the Commission's recommendations in order to halt the decline. Small shops are disappearing at a rate of 2,000 every year. In the preliminary findings of the inquiry, announced in April, the Party's Parliamentary Enterprise Group repeated a warning, originally made in 2006 by the All-party Small Shops Group, that the majority of the UK's small shops could disappear by 2015. Despite this, the Competition Commission's recent inquiry into the groceries market stated that their future is not under threat.

"The commission's proposals directly address the problems faced by high street retailers. Unlike the Competition Commission, which appears to have its head buried in the sand when it comes to recognising the very real threats to smaller shops across the UK, the Parliamentary Enterprise Group is facing these serious concerns head-on," said the FPB's Chief Executive, Phil Orford. "The FPB is now calling on the Government to listen and act to remove the significant barriers to survival and growth for small firms."

The Commission found that small shops are being driven away from high streets because of ‘a range of undue pressures that disproportionately affect the small retailer, from crippling tax and regulatory burdens, through to the rising tide of antisocial behaviour'.

"I set up the Commission into Britain's high streets for a number of reasons, not least because of the way I have seen my own county town of Northampton lose its appeal to many residents," said the Commission's chairman, Brian Binley MP. "I remember a vibrant town that grew up and held its own unique charm as the centre of a thriving shoe trade. Of course, that trade has slowed and that has had some impact, but Northampton has seen so much growth over the next few years that it must capitalise and create a town centre that people want to visit and spend their leisure time within."

He added: "The Commission has focused on five main areas; planning, parking and transportation, crime, retail competition, and rates and rents. Our policy options are backed by 10 months of research, site visits, meetings and policy discussion, and I hope we have produced a balanced and, crucially, useful report for the owners of small shops in the country."

In the preliminary findings of its own investigation, the Competition Commission said that, between 1999 and 2006, the entry of a supermarket into a town centre had caused more existing independent grocers and local markets to seek alternative locations than it had encouraged new retailers to move in. Its evidence showed that, since 2000, sales in supermarkets have grown by 26%, and by 19% in large convenience stores, but that specialist stores have experienced only a 1% growth in sales. The FPB is concerned that, unable to compete with their larger rivals, more and more small shops will be forced to close.