There is a growing demand for nursery places generally. Shipley is no exception. The company hoping to open a new nursery at the bottom of Carr Lane, Windhill, says it was government figures showing that the town needs more child-care places which prompted it to go ahead with the conversion of the former Bluebell pub.

On the face of it, it was a good idea which would solve two problems: meeting a need for child care and finding a useful new role for an empty building on a prominent site. So the company went ahead and spent £250,000 on adapting the premises to create Bonbons nursery to cater for up to 66 pre-school children.

Unfortunately it did so minus one important ingredient: planning permission for the change of use. When Shipley Area Planning Panel meets on Thursday, members will be faced with a recommendation from planning officers that the belated application be turned down. Their report highlights traffic-congestion hazards which anyone who drives past that busy road junction will appreciate well enough.

Councillors will have to decide whether the need for more nursery places outweighs these considerations or whether road safety should have priority. The chairman of the company concerned now admits it was a mistake to under-estimate the highways issue.

Whatever the outcome of its belated application, the question mark now hanging over its proposed development should offer an important lesson to other companies: to make sure planning permission is officially in the bag before spending large amounts of money on getting the work done.