Bakewell unites around tarts to fight off Costa Coffee Bakewell, Debyshire - not a cloned high street in sight. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian The picturesque town of Bakewell in Derbyshire has been the setting for a long-standing, and occasionally bitter feud: which of its eponymous desserts came first - the tart or the pudding? But after years of dispute the townspeople have decided to lay down their arms in the face of a more fearsome foe: Costa Coffee, which plans to open a coffee shop there. Bakewell puddings - the devilishly rich concoction of puff pastry, strawberry jam, eggs, almonds butter and sugar - have been sold in the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop since the 1860s, but would have no place at Costa which has said it would continue to take produce from its national, rather than local suppliers. "They do a Bakewell tart, not a pudding," said Jemma Beagrie, who has run the shop for 15 years. And it's gluten free. Beagrie said the town had united to block the multinational opening and preserve Bakewell's distinct atmosphere and heritage. "They don't need us and they don't need the business in this town but we do," she said. We love Bakewell, it is an untouched historic town with no neon signs and none of the identical shops you see on every high street in Britain. An ongoing battle with Zoe McBurnie, the owner of the Bakewell Tart Shop and Coffee House, has been put to one side, she added. "We've been bitter rivals in the past, as there has been this question of which came first, the tart or the pudding," she said. But we've come together to fight Costa and we've become great friends. It's like in the olden days when people used to stand together. McBurnie has run her rival shop for 11 years with the help of her daughter and husband, who used to make their tarts - which she stresses did come first. "We are all feeling the sting of recession here," she said. Lots of little towns like ours are struggling. If Costa comes then who is next - Subway? They don't mess around, they are big boys with a lot of money behind them. The campaign against Costa has attracted more than 6,000 signatures in six weeks on a petition on the online campaign site Change.org. Organisers have been in contact with campaigners in Totnes, Devon, who successfully stopped Costa opening in their town, and a similar group in Ripon, North Yorkshire. But with planning permission already granted they are now appealing directly to Costa to urge them not to open in the town. Nigel Johns, a campaign co-ordinator, said: "We genuinely want to protect the long-term future of Bakewell, which relies on its uniqueness. We don't want to become like every other cloned high street in the country. A spokesperson for Costa said the company planned to open the new branch, which would create more local jobs, adding: "We see no reason why a Costa store could not fit [in Bakewell] comfortably ... our offering is very different to the local independent coffee shops and bakeries. We believe that people can and will use both, depending on their needs; something we have seen in the other towns in which we operate.