Eggborough power station: Onlookers gather to watch as huge cooling towers are demolished at landmark Yorkshire power station

The 300ft (90m) high structures were brought down just after 8am on Sunday (Aug 1)

The coal-fired power station was decommissioned in 2018 and four of its eight towers – each containing around 11,000 tonnes of reinforced concrete – were demolished as part of a plan to redevelop the site.

The cooling towers can be seen for miles around and have been a Yorkshire landmark for 50 years, along with those at the other two nearby power stations along the M62, at Drax and Ferrybridge.

Spectators dotted the fields around the rural location of the site to watch the demolition despite dismal, drizzling conditions.

Billy Young, technical director at DSM, the company behind the demolition, said: "‘We are delighted that all the planning and hard work that has led up to today has enabled us to have

a successful demolition.

"We appreciate that a large number of Eggborough residents and businesses could have been disrupted by the work, but we have worked hard to communicate with them behind the scenes and by correspondence to minimise this in as much as practicably possible. We would like to thank them and the wider community for their patience so far and assure everyone that we will do all we can to minimise any further disruption.’

A statement from the company said: "The initiated collapse of the towers by means of high velocity explosives was the safest, most economical, and environmentally friendly approach to demolish the structures. The remainder of the site will be further demolished over the next 18 months to create a blank canvas for future regeneration and development of the former power station site."