SUPERMARKET giant Leclerc has demanded the right to sell over-the-counter medicines in its stores.

The group has launched an ad campaign putting pressure on the government to allow it to sell 4,000 products - such as Nurofen and Nicorette - that are available without a prescription and not reimbursed by social security.

Leclerc has 134 pharmacies inside its shops, but apart from basic food supplements and diet products, they are not allowed to sell drugs without a prescription.

The company says a government promise in 2008 to deregulate the sale of non-prescription medicines has not worked and those pharmacies that are free to sell them are charging too much.

It demands in its new TV ad that "our pharmacists have the right to sell over-the-counter medicines at Leclerc prices".

Director Michel-Edouard Leclerc said: "It is astonishing that despite all the anti-smoking campaigns our pharmacies are not allowed to sell Nicorette."

According to Le Figaro, the non-prescription medicine market is worth almost €2bn a year.

Photo: Marc Planard