The eight redundant chimneys on the site of the former Alcan smelting plant at Lynemouth in Northumberland have been demolished.
A number of controlled explosions were carried out by Demolition Services Limited working on behalf of site owner Harworth Estates.
The demolition was planned and scheduled to cause as little disruption as possible to local residents, community groups and businesses.
Local residents were notified prior to the demolition and a number gathered to watch the process behind an exclusion zone that had been established to ensure public safety.
Eddie Peat, natural resources director at Harworth Estates commented: “Our main priority was to ensure the demolition process was completed safely and thanks to the careful planning and co-operation of local residents I am delighted to confirm this was achieved.
“With this important milestone completed, we will now continue our work to restore the site with the objective of attracting a good number of high quality jobs from a range of businesses.”
Liz Simpson, deputy business chair of Northumberland County Council and the ward councillor, added: “The Alcan chimneys were familiar features of the industrial skyline for more than 40 years but today we have taken another step towards a brighter future for our county. From my visit to Lynemouth and discussions with Harworth Estates it has become very clear to me that we share an ambition to restore this hugely significant site to the benefit of future generations of people living and working in Northumberland. I welcome the start that has been made.”
Aluminum production ended at Lynemouth in March 2012 and Harworth Estates took over the 320 acre site from previous owner Rio Tinto Alcan in April 2015.