Tesco, Nokia, BA and McDonald's have joined the BPF's fight against empty rates with open letter to Gordon Brown published in Property Week magazine.

Household names like B&Q, British Airways, Next and Legal & General have joined property heavyweights like Brixton, Canary Wharf and Land Securities to get business rate relief on empty buildings to be reapplied immediately to stop it driving more small business to bankruptcy.

BPF Chief Executive Liz Peace said: "It's like making the unemployed pay income tax. Taxing hardship and business failure is a ludicrous way to help people through the hard times. Brown must act now to undo this mess."

Asda, which has admitted flattening a call centre to avoid empty rates, said: "Just as things have become more difficult economically, the government has imposed an ill-timed tax on empty properties which has had a number of unintended consequences."

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The supermarket had planned a £100 million redevelopment of a 6-acre site in New Barnet, Hertfordshire, but decided instead to demolish the building.

Rate relief was scrapped this April in a bid to raise £1.3bn. Now some property experts believe the figure could rise to £2bn due to so many firms having vacant space.

And as recession sweeps Britain, firms laying people off as they fight to survive will find themselves hit for tax on the empty space if the government continues to ignore common sense.

Dubbed the 'bombsite Britain' tax over the way it has caused landlords to demolish buildings rather than go bust paying rates, the British Property Federation (BPF), trade body for property, has led a year-long campaign backed by dozens of MPs.

Support for a Commons motion against the tax, placed by Halifax MP Linda Riordan, has doubled in the last week to over 70 MPs.

Shadow Business Minister Alan Duncan said: "Taxing something that generates no revenue does enormous damage. Removing the tax relief for empty property rates is bringing to a grinding halt any kind of activity for preparing business premises or developing wrecked premises for future use. It is taking money from people who have not got it to the point where they have to take the roof off or demolish what they have just built."

(CD/JM)