SIR – I see that Stead & Simpson have put up the “closing down” signs – one of the last good shoe shops in the city centre and another empty shop to add to the increasingly desolate Broadway and Market Street.

Businesses are clearly struggling down there because of the delayed Westfield development.

The Arndale Centre is always packed with shoppers, but as you head further down to the bottom end of town, the numbers are far less.

Which business will be next to pull the plug on Bradford? HMV? Bon Marche? How much longer can they hang on until the Westfield shopping centre becomes a reality?

Jack MacPherson, Killinghall Road, Bradford