There are some Bradford people who spoke dismissively about Gareth Gates when he hit the big-time as runner-up in the Pop Idol contest. They saw little kudos for the city, as it bid for a place on the Capital of Culture short-list, in boasting that it was the home of someone who had found "manufactured" fame in a national knock-out tournament for pop singers.

No doubt those same people will take a similarly jaundiced view of Kimberley Walsh, who this Christmas is topping the charts with the all-girl group Girls Aloud, victors in the contrived competition between them and the all-boy group which was also established as a result of the Popstars: The Rivals contest.

It's an unfortunate and entrenched aspect of the Bradford character to knock rather than to praise, to talk down instead of talking up. It shows itself in the way some local people denigrate their home city, stressing the negative aspects while ignoring the positive ones.

And when individuals find recognition and success, the last thing they should expect from some of their fellow Bradfordians is congratulations in case it might turn their heads and give them ideas above their station.

Christmas is perhaps as good a time as any to try to banish this curmudgeonly approach. When Bradford's sons and daughters do well, whatever their field of endeavour, let's break the habit of a lifetime and give them a jubilant pat on the back.

And where better to start this year than with Gareth and Kimberley, who deserve Bradford's Christmas best wishes and thanks for putting the city on the national map in such a positive way.