SIR - The recent demolition of the former building society building and the proposed demolition of the police headquarters should make way for some decent shops to be re-introduced to the centre of the city instead of more restaurants and bars.

Someone said to me recently. "We eat and drink in Bradford but shop in Leeds or Dewsbury."

The development at Odsal should include a decent athletics stadium and/or perhaps a reintroduction of speedway. Also we have no decent swimming pools of competition standard.

Let's look at the facilities available in the cities that have been nominated to go forward as Capital of Culture and ask, if we had those facilities would our own application have gone through?

Food for thought for our councillors and Bradford's many entrepreneurs.

K Petrie, Parkside Road, West Bowling.

SIR - I do so agree with Ian Sykes (Letters, November 15) when he says the Council's plans for City Hall are "utterly and absolutely Philistine".

Our so-called representatives are unable to do anything constructive themselves so they must vandalise and mutilate the genius of others.

Past examples are Kirkgate Market and Swan Arcade. Don't they realise they must DO something, not just publish plans and talk about it!

A COMPLETE ring road would help.

Joe Petty, Markfield Avenue, Low Moor.

SIR - I am totally behind the fire fighters in their action for a pay rise. I know what a good job they do as I have on many occasions worked along side them as I am a paramedic. They are experts in dealing with fires, chemical incidents, using rescue equipment at road traffic accidents etc and they also know some First Aid.

But like my colleagues in the Ambulance Service I am unhappy that my professional title, that of a paramedic, is continually being used as part of a fireman's job in the fire dispute.

The role of a paramedic is a highly-skilled job on its own that requires up to two years of training. The firemen can administer oxygen and Entonox, they are trained to use spinal boards and cervical collars for spinal injuries, they carry an advisory defibrilator (which means it tells you exactly what to do) and they do give basic first aid.

All of this extra training is good but it is still not as well trained as an Emergency Medical Technician, which is the step before becoming a paramedic.

Trevor Greenwood, Wymas NHS Trust, Bradford Road, Birkenshaw.

SIR - David Barnett's 'I Say...' article (T&A, November 12) is a sad piece of inane scribble. In slighting the Royal Family to the extent he did he has swallowed all the inaccuracies and fables of the republican and leftist press - and regurgitated them.

If the Royals are playing out a "sordid little soap opera" it is one manufactured by the media. It is through their filter that the facts are distorted. It is the journalists who said "Don't let the facts spoil a good story".

The Monarchy is far from finished but the republicans are flagging and are trying their worst. Readers will have noticed the recent hostile headlines - not in the T&A though.

Do your readers realise that the main thrust of the anti-Royalist propaganda comes from that section of the media owned by a foreigner? Does David Barnett himself believe them?

He repeats the bleat about the costs of the Monarchy. How much will his President cost?

He won't come cheap. He'll have a family to display and a large, and increasing, entourage, plus all the frippery of an artificial first family which will be a shoddy shadow of what we have now.

Walter Metcalfe, Central Avenue, Shipley.

SIR - Bradford police announced a "crackdown" on motorists not wearing seatbelts (T&A, November 15) in the same week that the new Chief Constable of West Yorkshire complained of having too few police officers.

Given their lack of resources, the police should prioritise on the serious crimes that leave people afraid to go out of their homes at night and afraid to open their doors to strangers.

I am sure the people of Bradford and Shipley would have been much more reassured to hear the police announce a crackdown on burglars and people who prey on the elderly and the vulnerable to swindle money from them and thugs who commit violent crimes.

Are the police in Bradford so out of touch that they think the most serious crime problem is motorists not belting up?

I understand the police's frustration at having to fill in too many forms and arresting the same people over and over again only for the courts to let them down with ineffective punishments, but the answer is not to take their frustration out on motorists because they are a soft touch.

Philip Davies (Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Shipley), Shipley Constituency Conservative Association, Otley Road, Shipley.

SIR - In the next few days many of your readers will receive confirmation that they have got a place in next year's London Marathon, a challenge of a lifetime.

Can I appeal to them to consider supporting people who are facing their own challenge of a lifetime, that of dealing with cancer?

The Marie Curie hospice in Bradford looks after hundreds of people and their families. We care for people in our outpatient clinics, day therapy unit and inpatient unit. In addition our Education Department runs courses for health care professionals to enable them to continue to care for people.

We need to raise £1.2 million every year through fundraising events and donations. I would love to hear from any London Marathon runners who would like to help us help others facing the greatest challenge of their lives.

I can be contacted on (01274) 337034 or brian.curran@mariecurie.org.

Brian Curran, Community Fundraising Manager Bradford, Calderdale and Craven, Marie Curie Centre, Maudsley Street, Bradford.

SIR - I see that another commercial caper has now come to the fore regarding drug addiction (T&A, November 11).

All the effort of these people who say drug addicts are being cured is a fallacy. Simple logic tells us that more and more people are into drugs of all kinds.

You are supposed to cure heroin addiction by taking methadone, but people get addicted to methadone. This drug is free so some of the druggies sell their methadone to buy cocaine/heroin. These druggies break the law, steal and mug people and with the financial gain buy drugs.

Let it be known that if you are a "druggie" then you will not have to work anymore. You can go to Her Majesty's pool and television abode and get a warm bed and good food and be nursed for your addiction.

Derek Wright, Westbury Street, Bradford 4.

SIR - Bradford Council are suggesting a 9.1 per cent rise in Council Tax. Do we not have a watchdog body to control these people? Can they just do as they please and get away with it?

My Council Tax is £620 for a one-up-and-down. Ridiculous! Where is it going to end? You are penalised if you live in a semi or a detached and you only have the same services. Any rise should be in line with inflation.

D E Newsham, West Grove, Baildon.

SIR - Cricket practice has started in earnest at Frizinghall Primary School. Every Friday after school the playground is full, with 25 pupils involved and another 25 on the waiting list. The school is keen to play other schools and is looking for a sponsor for the kit.

Cricket was requested by the Student Council as the top idea for an after-school club. Other activities planned are dance, ICT and football.

Jim Flood, vice-chairman of governors, Frizinghall Primary School, Salisbury Road, Frizinghall.