Dear Editor, With regards to your article “Final Plea to Save City’s BBC Heritage” (Post, Sep 22) some of the reasons that BBC Birmingham is expensive are:

* It rents space in the Mailbox, which is alleged to be the most expensive per square foot of any of their premises.

* Pebble Mill only cost them a “peppercorn rent” so it was much cheaper. (The reason for the concrete rot there was the BBC’s deliberate neglect.)

* The former ATV Studios were vacant and they could have rented these at a better price than The Mailbox.

* It is usually cheaper to film in the studio than on location; BBC Regional Drama Department agree, yet they have to improvise in an assortment of buildings subject to noise pollution.

* You don’t need to see BBC employees at work when you are shopping, particularly if it costs more.

Most programmes made for BBC in Birmingham are made by London-based companies like Kudos who bring in crews from London and only hire the minor people in Birmingham to the detriment of employment in the region. This raises costs to the BBC for no benefit.

* The BBC Trust has been ineffectual in supporting regional production and Allison Hastings, the Commissioner for England, has been unhelpful in the extreme but has refused to resign.

* Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, has written to me on two occasions and assured me that the BBC is committed to production in the regions. We await to see him match his words with actions.

* There are very competent film companies in Birmingham which could make these programmes but are ignored by the BBC, which does not even have a programme commissioner in the city. Kudos Film and Television say that it is cheaper to film in Birmingham than London, therefore it would be even cheaper for Birmingham-based companies, using local talent, to make programmes here. A local film company recently had its feature Insatiable Moon premièred at the Empire Leicester Square: we are good. The BBC could save money by commissioning programmes from local companies and create more jobs in the area.

* When ATV and BBC Pebble Mill were at capacity, Birmingham was well-known, now many people (wrongly) assume that Manchester is the second city because the broadcasters neglect it.