Last week's announcement of a competition inquiry into supermarket chains is a rare example of a bureaucratic intervention that is widely welcomed, especially among the sophisticated opinion-formers who are usually suspicious of government meddling with market economics. Anybody who has tried to find anything worth eating in the garish monoculture of a Tesco “convenience store” will surely pray that some deus ex machina will save what is left of the small greengrocers, butchers and delicatessens that Tesco, in particular, seems determined to eradicate from Britain’s high streets.

Two years ago Tesco quietly expanded into the most affluent areas of London by acquiring the upmarket Cullens, Europe and Harts neighbourhood stores and delicatessens, which had for decades been feeding the influential residents of Chelsea, Notting Hill, St John’s Wood and Hampstead. Last year it rebranded these stores in its own vulgar image in a display of hubris comparable to Microsoft’s decision to crush Netscape.

As one of the prosperous burghers of Central London, I sorely miss the freshly baked bread, high-quality charcuterie and organic smoked salmon that used to be available in my local grocer’s and do not appreciate Tesco’s alternative “offer” of a dozen varieties of cheap washing powder, tinned tuna and sliced bread. I therefore yield to no one in my dislike of Tesco’s bullying tactics and its philistinism towards food. But I am afraid that I have to disappoint my friends and neighbours who expect the Government to offer deliverance from this scourge. Hopes of reining in the big four supermarket chains through regulation are almost certainly forlorn. Tesco’s depredations will not — and from a legal standpoint cannot — be stopped by the Competition Commission or the Office of Fair Trading.

The Competition Commission is a paper tiger because on the statistical criteria that the inquiry must legally apply to its investigations, it will be difficult to restrain the growth of Tesco and even harder to prevent other chains such as Sainsbury’s or Asda from wiping out small shops. In terms of such purely numerical indicators as market share and pricing, there may not be much evidence of the supermarkets’ monopoly positions — certainly not enough to reverse the takeovers of convenience stores that have already occurred.

What could be done instead to save the diversity of Britain’s high streets? One possibility that is gaining support is to restrain chain stores with planning restrictions. In principle, planning is a perfectly justifiable interference with market forces because of the external effects of uncontrolled development. But how can planners distinguish between a chain such as Tesco or McDonald’s, which threatens to destroy the high street, and one such as a Waitrose or PizzaExpress, which may help to revive it

There are some ways for planners to discriminate between “good” and “bad” chains. Planners can prevent consolidation of small premises into big ones or ban garish neon-lit corporate logos. But in the end a Tesco behind mullioned windows and without neons would still be a gastronomic wasteland of sliced bread and Pot Noodles. Other local policies that could help to preserve the retail ecology of city centres would be to liberalise parking and to ban deliveries by articulated lorries, thus depriving chain-stores of some of their economies of scale. But such modest changes, while welcome, could hardly be expected to stop the supermaket juggernaut.

What about rent controls or tax breaks for small shops? These are a non-starter — or at best, a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There is simply no way to design legislation to control rent increases for small retail units without undermining the revolution in financial deregulation and property rights that was responsible for Britain’s present economic success. Landlords have an interest in maintaining diverse, attractive high streets — a reason why some of the most successful long-term landlords have gone to great lengths to prevent Tesco and other predatory, downmarket chainstores getting a foothold in areas such as Marylebone and Mayfair. But in the final analysis, small retailers must be able to pay market rents. If they cannot, this implies that customers do not really value the services they provide.

Which brings me finally to the real issue raised by the supermarket monoculture. This is consumer choice. If people genuinely value local shops they must be prepared to pay higher prices for the goods they sell. Just as importantly, they must be prepared to resist the blandishments of the cut-price retail chains and distinguish between those that offer quality and socially responsible behaviour, as opposed to competing merely on price.

Given the rapidly falling price of food relative to other items of personal spending, paying more for better food is an option now open not only to the rich but to every social class. That people who really appreciate good food will pay higher prices — and can afford to do so — is evident not only in France and Italy but also in countries much poorer than Britain, such as Greece, Portugal and Spain. If customers are genuinely willing to pay for better service, greater choice and more attractive surroundings, the market will eventually provide them, albeit at a higher price than Tesco.

So if you don’t like Tesco’s food or its arrogant behaviour in the high streets, the answer is quite simple: stop shopping in Tesco stores and persuade your friends to do the same. If enough people felt the same way and were willing to pay a small extra price to preserve the diversity of their high streets by boycotting Tesco, the message would pretty soon get through. The self-interest of the management, or failing that of the company’s shareholders, would do the rest.

As Adam Smith said: “I do not owe my dinner to the benevolence of the butcher, the baker and the brewer, but to their self-interest.” Here is a perfect opportunity to test this theory, by putting your money where your mouth is. Quite literally in this case.

a.kaletsky@thetimes.co.uk

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