Ferrybridge cooling tower demolished Published duration 28 July 2019

media caption A cooling tower at Ferrybridge Power Station has been demolished

Thousands of people gathered to watch a 114m cooling tower at a disused power station demolished with explosives on Sunday.

Tower Six at the former coal-fired Ferrybridge C Power Station was brought crashing down with a controlled blast in the first stage of demolition at the site.

An exclusion zone was set up before the tower was brought down on Sunday.

Four other towers at the site will be demolished in October.

Power firm SSE closed the site, alongside the A1(M) in Knottingley, West Yorkshire, which had been producing electricity for 50 years, in March 2016.

The company said the demolition works were part of SSE's transition to low-carbon energy, in line with the government's ambition for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

image caption Tower Six at the site was demolished in a loud explosion

Charlie Cryans from SSE said: "The removal of this cooling tower marks the start of the major demolition activities at Ferrybridge Power Station, with work due to continue over the next two years.

"This first demolition will act as a pilot for a bigger event scheduled for October, when up to four of the cooling towers will be removed.

"The coal-fired station at Ferrybridge produced electricity for more than 50 years, and at its peak could meet the energy needs of nearly two million people."