Redcar coal plant demolished nine years after opening

A £37m plant at the former Redcar steelworks has been demolished nine years after it opened.

The Pulverised Coal Injection (PCI) plant blew finely powdered coal into the centre of the site's blast furnace to make steelmaking more efficient.

It was pulled down as part of the transformation of the steelworks, which closed in 2015, into the Teesworks.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said all the major buildings on the site should be down by the end of the year.

The PCI plant (on the left) stood close to the blast furnace on the Redcar Steelworks site

The PCI plant worked by reducing the amount of coke the blast furnace required which led to an increase in production from 8,500 tonnes per day to 10,500 tonnes.

A Teesworks spokesman said it was also understood the plant paid for itself in its first year of operation through efficiency savings.

Efforts were made to sell the building but demolition was deemed the best option

Efforts were made to sell it when the steelworks closed but "these were ended due to limitations around its warrantee and the plant's insurance", the spokesman said.

Mr Houchen said: "We're on track to bring down all major former steelworks sites before the end of this year - and the terrific progress being made has seen us unlock hundreds of acres of land for development."