Redcar blast furnace demolition gets under way

Redcar's blast furnace is expected to be gone by the end of the year

Work has begun on demolishing one of Teesside's best-known structures - Redcar's blast furnace.

The structure has dominated the skyline for decades but the site - now part of Teesworks - is being cleared as part of regeneration plans.

A campaign had been launched to keep the structure as a tourist attraction, due to the local connection of thousands of former workers.

The building is due to be completely demolished by the end of the year.

The regeneration of the former SSI steel plant in Redcar is likely to take 25 years

Redcar's former steelworks has dominated the Teesside skyline since the 1970s and the blast furnace was ranked second largest in Europe.

Former Labour MP Anna Turley described the furnace as once being "the beating heart" of the town.

"Jobs, livelihoods, identities, friendships, and the steel that built the world, all forged here," she tweeted, as work began to dismantle it.

Tees Valley's Conservative mayor Ben Houchen previously said while the steelworks "played a vital part" in the area's communities it needed to "look to the future, not the past" when it came to employment.

The site is earmarked to become home to new green industries, which is claimed will create about 20,000 jobs.

The site was mothballed in 2010 before being restarted by SSI UK when it took over ownership from Tata Steel in 2012, but it entered liquidation three years later with the loss of more than 2,000 jobs.

All 11 major plants across the site will be demolished, to free up 600 acres of land.