READING the main article, ‘Tenbury in Portas pilot bid’, and your leader ‘Town sets its sights high’ in the April 5 issue, it was difficult to know whether to laugh or to cry. It seems that the same bunch (our district and town councillors) who approved Tesco’s planning application in the face of enormous local opposition and fears about the impact that this development will have upon the character of the town and the livelihoods of its traders, have now started to worry about the future of Tenbury’s high street.

Sadly, it seems unlikely that the damage that Tesco’s arrival will do to Tenbury’s ‘unique’ character, the expression used in your leader, not to mention its position on the River Teme, and the demolition of one of its historic buildings, can be repaired by a derisory government grant of £100,000 and the endorsement of a TV guru.

I suggest that the best use to make of the grant would be to put it towards a judicial review of this terrible decision.

R L HUGHES, BICKLEY, TENBURY WELLS