SIR – On a recent visit to Wiltshire I was taken to Bristol, where I saw the magnificent shopping mall that has been built (started some time after our hole in the ground) and has been in use a year or two.

All the shops, cafes and cinema are bustling with folk enjoying the amenities. There is ample parking on six-plus levels at a reasonable price and it is centrally situated. I cannot say who the builders were... but doubt it was Westfield!

Nor has Bristol lost millions in revenue as Bradford has, while our Council failed us by not making sure that Westfield stuck to its promise to complete before 2007.

Pity poor Bradford, all we have to show is the Odeon left to deteriorate when the money could have been found to bring it back to its former glory (and made many Bradfordians happy).

Instead we have a stupid expanse of squirts and wet patches (with litter) which has vastly overrun its budget of £24 million.

It will never give us back our standing as the great city we once were!

Acclaimed far and wide the world over... now we are a laughing stock. Empty shops but plenty of charity and betting shops, with not one decent departmental store.

G Bailey, Northcote Road, Bradford