Barnsley Council office demolition begins

Demolition of a former council office building has started, as part of as part of a multi-million pound town centre regeneration scheme.

Barnsley's Central Offices in Kendray Street will be knocked down and replaced with a new market building.

The demolition began at 13:00 GMT with a firework display.

The offices were built for South Yorkshire County Council until it was abolished and replaced in 1986 by Barnsley Council.

Councillor Roy Miller said the work is expected to take about eight weeks to complete.

"This is the first major part of the demolition, " he said.

"We've been taking out some of the insides for some weeks now but now we're going to actually start demolition."

The Central Offices will be replaced with a 2,600 sq m (28,0000 sq ft) temporary market building while the existing market is refurbished.

It will house 81 stalls and stand for up to four years before being removed to create a market square.

Before demolition work began former employees and media representatives were give a chance to look around the building.

One former employee said: "Its days were always numbered, people were making plans for ages and it's great to see it start to happen."