More leading retailers have joined Retail Week’s fight for the Government to change the rules on business rates to protect the sector from massive hikes in bills.

Retailers face an estimated£300 million increase in their rates bills next year and ultimately the 2010 revaluation will mean a£1 billion increase in annual bills for the sector.

Leading names have called on Chancellor Alistair Darling, who makes his pre-Budget statement on Monday, to intervene.

“We’re very supportive of Retail Week’s rates campaign,” said Marks & Spencer executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose. “Given the current climate, anything that adds extra costs onto retailers would not be helpful and we would welcome sensible intervention from the Government.”

Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire said there was a pressing need to change the basis of next year’s rate rise, which as it stands will mean a 5 per cent increase based on the inflation level in September.

“At a time of falling retail sales it seems extraordinary that retailers, who already pay the largest amount of any sector, should be taxed even more,” said Cheshire. “The really urgent point is that September’s peak RPI rate of 5 per cent will be used to calculate 2009’s rates, even though inflation is set to fall sharply.”

Meanwhile Sir Philip Green expressed anger that the 2010 revaluation will be based on property values in April 2008 – the peak of the market. “Everyone knows that the 2008 property values are way out of date,” he said. “Why is it not possible to have a revaluation nearer the year in question?”

Asda chief Andy Bond also backed the campaign. “Both the timing of the rates revaluation and the benchmarks of how they are worked are irrational,” he said.

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