Cooling tower demolished at Ferrybridge

Demolition work has begun at a record-breaking power station that provided the UK with energy for 50 years. Thousands of people gathered in fields and on roadsides to watch as a controlled explosion brought down a cooling tower at Ferrybridge Power Station, in West Yorkshire, on Sunday morning. The demolition came after its owners, energy company SSE, made the decision to close the coal-fired power station, which generated its final electricity in March 2016. The eight huge cooling towers that form Ferrybridge C are a landmark for drivers using the A1(M) and M62 motorways - both of which had traffic restrictions in place on Sunday for the demolition work. Spectators gasped as a controlled explosion was carried out on the 114-metre-high Tower Six, which collapsed in seconds in a cloud of dust. The tower is the first of five to be demolished as SSE prepares to use the site to develop a new gas-fired power station. Four more towers are expected to be demolished in October.