The iconic industrial skyline of Thurrock has been changed forever this morning as the two large chimneys at Tilbury Power Station came down.

The demolition took place at 8am this morning and the towers, which have been there for 44 years, came down in a matter of seconds.

The 170m tall chimneys, which have been there since 1969, were brought down simultaneously by controlled explosions at 8am.

They were the tallest standing structures in Essex but took less than 10 seconds for the concrete chimneys to crumble to the ground.

Monitoring the Tilbury blow down this morning with @CInspBaxter pic.twitter.com/oGNUqLPbE6

— Essex Police Marine (@EPMarine) September 28, 2017

RWE Generation confirmed the demolition.

A spokesman said: "At 8.01am today and after 46 years of standing upright, two 170m chimneys at Tilbury Power Station were safely brought to the ground by controlled explosive demolition. The chimneys were built in 1969 and took only 10 seconds to come down. The demolition was managed by a specialist demolition contractor.

"The demolition did not impact local infrastructure and was delivered safely and according to plan. It will take approximately three weeks to process the debris from the demolition. The material will either be reused onsite or recycled locally.

"Further explosive demolitions will take place on the turbine hall later this year and we will inform the local community at least seven days in advance of any activity."

For those of you expecting a live stream on Facebook this morning, we would like to express our apologies as due to technical issues it was not possible.

Thanks to Thurrock wildlife photographer Rob Lay for the video. You can view more of Rob's work here.

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