grocery store (supermarkets) delivery?

I know that in London you can get your grocery delivered by some supermarkets ( at least so I was told) ; can you do that in other parts of the UK also?
If I would have my grocery delivered would I still need a car much? I am planning on beeing a stay-home mom and I hate driving. My husband would commute to work with a train. We would like to live in Kent county somewhere. One hour away from London.
Thank you
Marilena

I live in the Home Counties (outside London, but accessible to London) and at least four of the major chains home deliver groceries.  If you visit their websites, they usually have a post code checker so that you can see if they deliver to a specific area.

DH and I don't drive yet and having the groceries delivered makes the BIGGEST difference.  I honestly believe that I wouldn't still be here if it weren't for grocery delivery.  I hated getting a taxi home when we went to do the big shop.  Blech. 

We don't actually need a car right now.  Public transport is pretty comprehensive up here and we haven't run into any major problems yet.  I would say, though, that if you have children, you might want to consider a car.  I absolutely refuse to deal with children on public transport -- when I get pregnant, we'll get a car!   

I live way up in Inverness and we have grocery delivery here.  We've only used it once, but it went like clockwork.  I think I will be using it more once baby #2 arrives. 

I live out in the boonies and I know that our only 2 grocery shops do home delivery. I haven't had the need to use it, but it's nice to know it's there just in case! Tesco delivers, but charges £5, I think. You can shop online with them. Somerfield delivers, but there's no online shopping -- you have to go to the shop and do the shopping and then they bring it home to you. But I have an aunt who doesn't drive who uses their service and loves it. She has no problem getting to them on the bus, but would never be able to carry bags of groceries home.

So it's definitely not restricted to London!

Ditto, only the most rural areas have restricted delivery. I don't think Kent is in that category! But do think about children and complete and total reliance on public transport. Remember that many of the lovely quaint villages you may want to live in may not have great bus/train service. Choose your house/village/town carefully. We live just outside a village and I would go INSANE without my car. We also lived in a small town that had appalling bus service and that's what drove us to get a car as well.

Just some food for thought!

I live in zone 2 in London and I *still* like having a car.  It's a California thing I guess.  Sometimes I just NEED to get in a car and drive.  Walking everywhere or being on the bus or tube all the time drives me insane.  Too many people, too noisy.. it overwhelms my senses every day.  It's nice to get in the car and just drive to the country for a day.  Getting out of the city is vital to my sanity.

I used to use Tesco's home delivery a lot and I was always really, really happy with it. Only once did they ever forget something. It is really popular with my family and friends in the UK and we certainly loved it because actually going to the shop was always such a nightmare!

Supermarket delivery is great and it saves you having to get all stressed out in the actual supermarket.  There is a thread on the merits of the various supermarkets here, if you are interested:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=8351.0

If you are going to live out in the suburbs, you might feel the need for a car even if you get the shopping delivered, depending on how good the local public transport is and how close you will be to various amenities and it will certainly make getting around with a baby easier. 

I had no car for the first 2-3 months I lived here. I didn't mind hopping on the bus to get places, but I certainly did feel more free once I got a car. Public transportation on the whole is very good in the UK, but it still doesn't beat being able to get where you want when you want. I'm in a very rural area and I think life would be pretty limited without a car. Just my opinion. 

Oh good, I'm glad Britwife pulled out that thread - I was just going to mention it.
I sort of agree with belindaloo that not being able to drive can be a bit isolating. In fact I think it's played the biggest role in my adjustment here - I think I would have felt a lot more in control and been able to claim this as my home a lot sooner if I'd had a car. Having said that, we still have a car I can't drive (long story - insurance issue) and so I still don't - but it's first on my priority list for this year.

Oh, but grocery delivery is quite useful - read that thread for sure though (and stay away from Sainsburys!!!)