A Penryn pharmacy has vowed to fight on against a town supermarket’s attempts to open an unauthorised chemist.

Asda, on Jennings Road, was refused planning permission for a pharmacy facility by Cornwall Council in November but went ahead and opened one anyway.

The makeshift pharmacy, which is located in a portable building in the superstore’s car park, takes advantage of a supposed loophole in planning laws, according to Penryn Surgery practice manager Mark Taylor.

He told town councillors on Monday that Asda “are claiming, because they opened in a portacabin, that they didn’t open in store and are therefore not in breach of planning.

“It’s clearly nonsense,” he added.

Mr Taylor said that Hendra’s Pharmacy on Market Street, which is run by the surgery, would struggle to stay afloat if Asda gets its way.

“It’s difficult to be honest, we struggle to break even there,” he said.

“But it does work – we just have to stop Asda.”

The supermarket would happily make a loss on its pharmacy venture for the first few years, Mr Taylor claimed, until it had “sucked” the life out of everywhere else.

He said: “They suck the business in because it’s jolly convenient for people."

“You can see their position; I don’t blame them for it.

Adding: “We are doing absolutely everything we darn well can to try and stop them."

Town councillor Mark Snowdon said: “Surely there’s an enforcement issue that should be brought to bear.

“Surely it’s a case for the enforcement officer.”

Cornwall councillor for the area Mary May said she thought county planners were “shaking in their boots” and that Asda was “having a darn good laugh” at the council.

“It comes to Cornwall Council, 16 member sit around that table and we are made a laughing stock of,” she said.

Asda thought they would be closed down by the council immediately, Mrs May said.

“They said they had never done this before in any of their other pharmacies.

“It’s a one off. They were trying their luck and at the minute they seem to be winning,” she added.

Mr Taylor vowed to take Cornwall Council to judicial inquiry if they did not enforce planning regulations in this case.

Comparing the possible legal battle to being the underdog in a game of football, he said: “We are ten minutes to go in the football match and we still have reserves to bring on.”

Cornwall Council’s enforcement team has visited the site and been in contact with Asda’s legal and planning representatives.

The council has also sought its own legal advice and “a decision on the way forward should be made shortly,” a spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Asda’s appeal was lodged with the Planning Inspectorate in September 2012 and a decision is expected in the next four to eight weeks.

UPDATE - January 10: Asda got in touch to insist that their pharmacy, which opened on December 23, exists "within the terms" of their contract.

A spokeswoman said: "Customers can rest assured we have a full pharmacy licence at Falmouth and we know they're keen to suing the service, so we have opened the pharmacy whilst we are waiting for the outcome of our planning appeal decision."

The makeshift pharmacy is "more convenient for Penryn and Falmouth customers" as it will be open until 11pm each night as well as Saturday and Sunday, she added.