The demolition of a giant gas holder on a former gasworks site in Ashford is now forging ahead.

The redundant structure in Gasworks Lane, just off Victoria Way, is owned by Gas distribution network company SGN.

Permission to demolish the tank was granted in January of 2014 and contractors Syd Bishop and Sons Ltd, whose slogan is “Watch it come down”, are dismantling the gas holder, which used to supply gas to the local community.

The holder is being demolished from the top down, with removed sections being dropped inside the holder’s shell and then retrieved and taken away via a huge hole that has been created at the structure’s base.

Claire Buchanan, spokeswoman for SGN, said the dismantling of the gas holder started at the beginning of November 2014 with scaffolding erected right round the massive structure. It is being dismantled in sections and the work is expected to take several more months.

The Wiggins-type gas holder was constructed in 1966.

It is 118ft in diameter and 130ft high and had a capacity of one million cubic feet of gas.