Long arm of the machine brought in to demolish outdated tower block

SPECIALIST machinery was brought in yesterday to help demolish outdated tower blocks in Leeds.

The demolition of selected tower blocks across Leeds is part of a major housing regeneration project which got underway yesterday (15/1) in the Little London area of the city, with the machinery being used on Carlton Towers.

The high reach machine is one of only two in the country that can reach to a height of nearly 50 meters, as tall as 10 double decker buses. It will remove the top layers of the tower block by nibbling away at the building.

The demolition of these outdated blocks is being undertaken by Leeds City Council in advance of the appointment of a contractor for the building of new council homes and refurbishment of existing council homes as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project.

Holbeck Towers, Gaitskell Court and Grange in Holbeck are also due for demolition as part of a project starting in March this year.

Coun Les Carter, executive member for Neighbourhoods and Housing at Leeds City Council as well as Lloyd Lythe, one of the first residents to live in Carlton Towers, attended yesterday’s demolition.

Mr Lythe lived for years in the same high rise tower block. He moved into his spanking new council flat in Carlton Towers in February 1959, but has since been rehoused.

ends