The owner of an independent decorating shop in Greater Manchester says he is losing thousands of pounds' worth of business to B&Q because of a change of policy at a local social housing provider.
Bolton at Home, a charity that owns and manages more than 18,000 homes in the area, gives its tenants vouchers they can use to buy DIY materials. And for Terry Whatmough, who runs Decorsave in Westhoughton, this has brought in at least £4,000-worth of business a year for the last decade.

However, when sales via the vouchers started to disappear he made some enquiries and discovered that Bolton at Home is now telling its householders that they must get their decorating supplies from B&Q instead.

Mr Whatmough described the move as "a stab in the back", and added that some local tenants would have to use public transport to get to the nearest B&Q, which could be inconvenient if they intended buying bulky or heavy materials.

However, a spokesman for Bolton At Home told The Bolton News: "We do sympathise if this has caused hardship but the old system of independent retailers was administratively costly and limited our customers in terms of choice.

"Having B&Q provide our decorating materials will ensure value for money, green operations, contributions to our communities and the use of local labour.

"Tenants will also receive a wide selection of materials, access to a tool pool and DIY skills training with B&Q."