St Austell demolition starts

Hedley Swan and his children won a draw to start the demolition

Demolition of parts of a Cornish town centre has got under way ahead of a £40m redevelopment project.

A block of four-storey buildings between St Austell's Aylmer Square and Trinity Street was the first to be brought down.

Demolition of the town centre will take six months and involve the removal of 6,000 tonnes of material.

It will be followed by a huge rebuilding programme which will include two new squares, shops, pubs, up to 50 flats, an underground car park and a cinema.

Last month there was a formal ceremony to start demolition when a small kiosk was pulled down.

The development will feature shops, pubs, flats and a cinema

But on Wednesday the operation got going in earnest and a family from nearby Pentewan was at the controls of the large demolition machine.

Hedley Swan and his four children won a draw to secure the honour of starting the demolition process.

The block of buildings was already stripped out in preparation for being taken down.

Mr Swan, 61, said: "Aylmer Square was not pedestrian friendly. It was always wet and windy and the buildings were so ugly.

Long-time ambition

"It had been my ambition for a long time to knock it down.

"I used to joke to people that if they were going to knock it down, I would do it for them for nothing."

The project has been funded by the South West Regional Development Agency.

It is expected to take three years to complete.