It is disturbing news that the public inquiry scheduled for February 16, to establish what Tesco did with the antique brass window frames from Palmeira House, has been postponed.

Why can't Tesco be forced, if it cannot produce the originals which one assumes have either been sold or scrapped, to have new brass frames cast in the exact style of the originals. Photographs must exist showing the originals in place to enable copies to be made.

This looks like another example of Brighton and Hove City Council not standing its ground against a company which seems to think it can do what it likes.

All this raises the question of what planning officials and conservation officers were doing while the building work was carried out at Palmeira House.

It would be interesting to know how many inspection visits they made while work was in progress. Strange goings on for a council which can be so pedantic in other matters.

-E Bottomley, Hove