Aerial photos show work in progress to remove a prominent landmark from a town’s skyline.

The former Southern Gas Networks Depot near the Strand, in Gillingham, is being cleared and the towering gasometer will eventually be taken down for good.

The huge structure has stood off Pier Road since 1854 and has been under many ownerships in its lifetime.

Originally it belonged to Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham Gas before being transferred to Southeast Gas in 1933.

SGN was the next company to occupy the site but the gas holder was decommissioned in 1968.

Gas is now more efficiently stored in underground pipework, so the giant containers are no longer required.

SGN owns 110 gas holders across southern England and Scotland and is in the process to dismantling them.

Six “high-pressure bullet tanks” have already been removed from the old Gillingham depot.

All that remains is the blue frame of the gas holder and a “below-ground spiral-guided gas holder.”

It will eventually be taken down but the timeframe has not been revealed.

Commenting on social media about its removal, Toni Hart said: “The smell from a gasometer, takes me back nearly 80 years.

“A day out at the Strand, the nearest we got to the seaside in those days.”

Joanna Matthews said: “How will the children know they’re nearly at the Strand? Was such a landmark when I used to walk there with my mum when I was little.”

Bet Teramain recalled: “One of my late husband’s workplaces and I’ve been in the control place - never seen so many switches in my life.

“He was on a call out and I went with him. he worked all over the south east and was the third generation of his family to work for gas board.”

The plot is one of many put forward during Medway Council’s call for sites for housing development and is now owned by Blueberry Homes.

An SGN spokesman added: “The energy regulator Ofgem has tasked us to dismantle all our gas holders by 2029.

“It’s no longer sustainable for us to keep these redundant structures in a safe and visually acceptable condition long-term.

“We’re also committed to redeveloping the land they sit on for use that’s more beneficial to the local community.”

Blueberry Homes was contacted about its intentions for the land but did not respond.