Demolition of Redcar Power Station in pictures

The Teesside skyline changed forever today after Redcar Power Station fell as part of the final demolition of the steelworks.

See pictures of the event below.

Four blasts in quick succession brought down the former gas holder, triple flare stack, de-aerator, and chimney after Tory grandee Lord Michael Heseltine pushed the demolition trigger.

It was Tees Valley: Opportunity Unlimited, authored by Lord Heseltine in 2016, which set out the vision and aims for the former steelworks site – including the creation of the South Tees Development Corporation in 2017.

He said: "It hugely exciting for me coming back a few years later from the first decision to create a corporation and to build new opportunities here and to drive around and see how close we now to the physical evidence of new businesses, new jobs and the new world we have created.

"I am very proud to have been part of the beginning of this."

The power station provided electricity to the Redcar Steelworks, fuelled from by-products of the iron-making process in the Blast Furnace.

Its primary function was to provide cold blast air for the blast furnace.

Excess gas which came from the coke ovens and the blast furnace was used in the boiler heating process to generate more electricity.