The mothballing of Bradford’s £320 million shopping development has been replicated in towns and cities up and down the country, according to a Bradford property expert.

Andrew Mason, chairman of Bradford Property Forum, said developers in many parts of the UK were still struggling to get major retail-led developments off the ground in much the same way as Westfield in Bradford.

Earlier this week, property group Hammerson said it was unlikely to resume work this year on two stalled developments in neighbouring Yorkshire cities as the tough retail climate and slow crawl out of recession delays the property market’s recovery.

Hammerson is the lead developer on the £800 million Eastgate Quarter, in Leeds, with Marks & Spencer as one of the anchor tenants, and the £600 million Sevenstone development in Sheffield, which has John Lewis as its anchor tenant.

A spokesman for Hammerson said: “Work is ongoing within the planning and design stages for our development pipeline schemes including Leeds, Sheffield and Southampton, however the recession has had an impact on tenant demand which is vital to the success of our schemes and a major consideration in the timing of a start on site.”

Mr Mason, who is also managing director of Shipley-based Newmason Properties, said: “When I have travelled to other cities up and down the country and seen the situation there, it’s clear that these are trying times for all of us.

“For example, Chester has a bigger hole in the ground than we have. We are having difficulties, but other cities are having similar problems.

“Leeds is having difficulties. I was speaking to someone just the other day about the Trinity One scheme, in Leeds, which got mothballed. There are no winners, so blaming ourselves is not the right thing to do. Bradford has done nothing wrong. It’s biting in each and every one of us.

“Where Bradford steels a march is that we still have activity going on with the mirror pool City Park and the Southgate scheme.

“We still have a super dialogue going with Westfield and I would much sooner have Westfield as a shopping centre deliverer because at least they have the resources.

“I am hoping their experience will be part of the charge out of recession in Bradford, whereas other cities that don’t have such recognised developers on board may emerge more slowly. The confidence has got to come back.”