THE North-South divide, said the comedian, is best summed up as the Waitrose in Guildford selling nine different olive oils whereas the Morrisons in Dewsbury offers nine lards.

That jibe will be exposed as calumny when, as seems likely following the Competition Commission's ruling that Morrisons, alone among the big supermarket groups, is permitted to bid for Safeway, the Home Counties will see for themselves that the Bradford-based company is a class act.

Morrisons has 123 stores, mainly in the North and Midlands; Safeway has 480 nationwide and the same 1:3 ration is roughly the situation in this area, although the Safeway total of about 20 includes smaller stores that will give Sir Ken Morrison, the canny chairman of the Yorkshire group, something to ponder: all his stores are large and laid out to a tight formula - the fish counter or delicatessen could be found by a Morrisons' regular shopper blindfolded, whether in Stockton or Morecambe. Under the terms of his permission, Sir Ken must anyway sell 48 large and five smaller Safeways and it may be that, rather than join a new ball game of running dozens of smaller stores the size of the Cockerton neighbourhood shop in Darlington - or even medium-size ones like those in Northallerton and Yarm high streets - he will also sell more of these.

Morrisons is likely, anyway, to follow up the hard-won planning permission for a new Safeway store in Northallerton.

This region will see some of the compulsory sales. Redcar has a new Morrisons hard by a Safeway and the word is that Darlington's large Safeway, which does well near the prosperous West End, will change to the yellow and black livery.

But many in Darlington, where the only other large supermarket is an Asda, would welcome a sale to Tesco or Sainsbury.

Overall then, if this takeover goes ahead, the region's housewives should get more choice and keener prices.