SIR - I wholeheartedly agree with J Stenson (T&A Letters, September 8) Bradford is tacky'.

I have recently returned to this so-called city following some years residing in Manchester. I have been shocked at the general deterioration of the city centre. It looks and feels like a backwater only able to sustain charity and pound shops.

Bradford has some great old buildings left, it is a shame the Council does not have the stomach to preserve what is left. It might be an idea to have City Hall bulldozed as well, then we could get on with becoming a suburb of Leeds.

I see no reason to come into Bradford city centre, Halifax is far superior with a good market, pleasant and diverse shops and of course its wonderful Victorian architecture proving how Bradford could have been, if successive civic leaders had any sense of history or taste.

The city centre is a hotchpotch of old and poor quality tacky new buildings such as the Rawson Quarter, and if that is an example of what is to come, I cannot see any improvement.

M Cornforth, Smithy Fold, Clayton Heights, Bradford