SIR – I have just objected to a retrospective planning application that has been submitted seeking approval for a car park in place of Shipley’s now-demolished Royal Mail sorting office.

Those intending to demolish buildings should first notify the Local Planning Authority advising when and how demolition will be undertaken and how the site will be left afterwards. In this case no prior notification was given and consequently the demolition was unauthorised in planning terms.

Shipley residents lost a local sorting office that many relied on, and they lost a decent local building. To find out that the building was destroyed without the necessary consent is appalling.

I am resigned to the almost certain prospect that this application will be approved. But the least that Shipley (and Bradford Council) deserves is an unreserved apology from those responsible for their blatant disregard for planning law.

Coun Kevin Warnes (Green, Shipley Ward), City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council