City centre traders are fighting a bid to put shops into a major leisure development which was originally given planning per-mission for bars and restau-rants.Bradford Chamber will submit objections to planning applications by developers Asda St James for retail in three of the five large units it is building opposite Grade One listed City Hall.The Chamber's objection is being supported by the West Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.Bradford Retail Ac-tion Group is also expected to object to the applications which could be dealt with by the Council's regulatory and ap-peals committee in May.Asda St James was given planning permission in 2000 for the de-velopment on one of the best sites in the city centre.The £8 million complex currently be-ing built was expected to have five units for restaurants and bars and an area set aside for arts and culture.So far two ma-jor licensed operators have signed up for two units but the Council says it has now been told by the developer the there has been insufficient interest from food and drink operators in the others.The closing date for representations on the new applications is on April 15.Mary Frame, an executive member of Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: "We feel that re-tail will be inappropriate in Centenary Square and will re-move it from the new Broad-way shopping scheme. We can't support their application and the West Yorkshire Chamber is sympathetic and in support of us."Jeff Frankel, chairman of Bradford Retail Action Group, said: "We will discuss it at our meeting and I am confident we will be objecting. It is totally out of order to apply for retail at this stage. It is like getting retail permission through the back door."A spokesman for the developers said they had no comment to make at this stage.The modern building has replaced towering Provincial House which was blown up in a controlled explosion in Sep-tember 2002 by Cleckheaton-based Controlled Demolition, watched by hundreds of peo-pleAsda St James which was involved in the development of the Forster Square Retail Park is currently developing the Mil-lennium Square in Leeds and Peace Gardens in Sheffield. The Centenary Square complex is expected to open later this year and contains a giant electronic screen to promote local events. The units remaining unlet are each about 6,000 square feet. The applications are for gen-eral retail.