Small independent chemists could be under threat from supermarket giants, after price fixing on over-the-counter medicines was abolished this week.

Pharmacist Paul Jenner, of Jenner's Chemist in Cowley Road, feared shops like his own, in Cowley Road, would lose customers to out-of-town stores able to cut prices.

He said: "A lot of my time is spent advising my customers on medication. I don't want them to buy things because they are cheap, but because they are appropriate for their health needs.

"If people buy hairspray because it's cheap and they use it every day, that's fine, but it's not the same with drugs.

"Customers in a supermarket might buy four packets of tablets and the assistant on the check-out may not query that."

On Tuesday, an umbrella group representing local chemist shops abandoned its opposition to an Office of Fair Trading High Court action to abolish price-fixing on medicines.

The Community Pharmacy Action Group had claimed the move would put many small chemists out of business and reduce the range of products available on the market.

However, it pulled out of the fight after the judge, Mr Justice Buckley, ruled there was insufficient proof that price-fixing would have a negative effect.