A control building which was once the heart of the running of the now defunct Grain Power Station has been blown up.

The building was demolished at 11am in the latest stage of pulling down the station, which was closed in 2012 for economic and environmental reasons.

The next stage of the work will be demolishing the chimney.

The building which came down today, measuring about 36 metres high and 85 metres in length, was home to the equipment used to operate and control electricity generation.

It also contained the water treatment plant, laboratories and office workspace.

During the controlled demolition about 15,000 tonnes of steel and concrete was brought to the ground and will be removed from the site.

Neil Riley, head of demolition at Uniper which owns the site, said: “Removal of the control building was initially planned to coincide with the demolition of the chimney but we’re now in a position to move ahead with this work.

“Following this event, the site will be cleared in preparation for the final demolition milestone, which will be the 244m chimney.”

Demolition work is due to be completed by the end of the year.