Video: Inside the Bradford squat that should have been a shopping mall

People, aligning themselves with the Occupy movement, which staged anti-capitalism protests around the world earlier this year, gained access to the site of the proposed Westfield shopping centre in the city on Saturday afternoon.

They are frustrated by what they see as the lack of progress on the site but last night Westfield said it remains committed to the project.

Coun David Green, Bradford Council leader, has invited protest leaders to meet him. Alias Yousaf, a solicitor with Chambers, providing legal advice to the protesters, said they wanted any meeting to take place at the site. He said protesters were forced to rely on local businesses and the public for water and electricity.

Shopping centre plans were first discussed in 1998 and major demolition work was later carried out clearing a 10-acre hole in the city centre. Westfield, which took control of the site in 2004, submitted a much smaller planning application last year but work is yet to begin.

Protesters are demanding an audience with the city’s leaders and a public inquiry. They have pledged to remain on the Westfield site for seven days or until its demands are met.

A spokesperson for Westfield said: “Westfield is committed to Bradford and is currently undergoing intense negotiations to secure retailers for the Broadway scheme.

“The financial crisis and economic slow down over the past few years have made conditions very challenging and there are dozens of major regeneration sites on hold across the UK as a result.

“Westfield understands the community’s concerns and also wants this scheme to happen as soon as possible.”

Coun Green added: “If the organisers of the protesters wanted to talk to me, they did not need to occupy the site – they could just have rung me up.

“We have had a deliverable planning application for less than a year, but progress has made been made by the council liaising closely with Westfield and pressing hard for work to begin on site.”