Landmark radio masts demolished

The masts were demolished using explosives

Four radio masts which dominated the skyline on the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire border for 81 years have been demolished.

Explosives were used to knock down the 820ft (250m) high transmitters at BT Rugby Radio Station which BT said were structurally unsafe.

Eight masts at the site were knocked down in a similar operation in 2004.

BT said the masts had been superseded by satellite and other methods of communication.

Rugby Radio Station was opened on 1 January 1926 with the intention of broadcasting messages to the rest of the Commonwealth.

It allowed the first transatlantic phone calls to be made and was also used later to transmit signals to submarines when the MoD took it over during World War II.

The masts were also famous for transmitting the atomic clock signal, which allowed people all over the world to set the time precisely.