Ironbridge Power Station towers set to be demolished next year
Ironbridge Power Station's landmark cooling towers are likely to be demolished as early as next summer, it was revealed today.
The company behind the decommissioning of the power station said it plans to begin demolition work in the middle of 2017.
It is expected that work to clear the huge site will take about three years to finish.
Calls have been made to keep the towers, which have a unique pink hue to them and have become a landmark in the historic gorge. But they are likely to be flattened as part of the site clearance.
Work is still ongoing by Uniper, a sister company to power group Eon, to shut down the plant, which closed almost a year ago.
Gill Dickinson, a spokeswoman for Uniper, said: "Decommissioning work is currently under way at Ironbridge and is due to run until early 2017. This will ensure that the plant is shut down safely and the site is secure.
"Once the decommissioning phase has been safely finished, and subject to council planning approvals, we'll be able to start the demolition work.
"This is likely to begin towards the middle of 2017, and we'd expect it to take around three years to complete."
When asked if the demolition would include the site in its entirety, including the cooling towers, Ms Dickinson said: "Our focus at the moment is very much on the safe decommissioning of the site.
Plans for the demolition of individual plant, including timescales, are still under development."
The plant was officially switched off on November 20 2015, after 46 years of service, following an EU directive.
Under the EU, ageing plants like Ironbridge were legally limited in the emissions they can produce and its operating hours were restricted in 2008.
The EU's Large Combustion Plant Directive said the station had to end its life after passing the milestone of generating power for a total of 20,000 hours since January 1, 2008,
So far, there has been mixed reactions to the potential loss of the towers, with many saying they would miss such an iconic feature of the Ironbridge Gorge.
There have been calls to protect the towers because they are unique in that they were deliberately constructed using concrete to which a red pigment had been added, to blend with the colour of the local soil, giving them their distinctive red hue.
English Heritage previously said the towers could not be protected as they do not meet strict criteria.