Few people would disagree with Councillor Simon Cooke that the premature closure and demolition of Rawson Market was a big mistake. As the Council's executive member for regeneration says, it was one of the worst things the authority did in the 1990s.

The traders were moved out in 1995 into a temporary market hall to make way for a multi-million pound development of the old market site, to be paid for with money raised through the sale of land in Vicar Lane for a new leisure complex.

The delays in securing that sale are now an unhappy episode in Bradford's history. The upshot was that Rawson Market was demolished six years ago without any redevelopment of the site in prospect and has remained as a hole in the ground ever since, blighting the top end of town.

Now the scheme to replace the market has apparently moved a stage nearer with news that developers Chartback are in talks with an unnamed non-food retailer to secure a "main anchor" for the project. They have got to the stage of inviting tenders from building contractors and say that they hope work will start in October.

That is encouraging, although Bradford people who have had to cope with so many pies in the sky in recent times will no doubt shake their heads and say they'll believe it when they see it.

Let's hope that this time the Rawson project really is under starter's orders and that by this time next year the upper end of town is linked with the rest of it once again and heading for renewed success.