Call for cooling towers to stay

The power station originally opened in the 1950s

A call has been made for five cooling towers from a former Derbyshire power station to be preserved.

Willington closed 10 years ago but the towers still loom over the area and have become a well-known landmark.

Current owner Npower wants to turn the site into a £1bn gas-fired energy plant, which would mean the towers being demolished.

But the parish council has said many residents have come to regard the towers as part of the town.

There had been plans to build up to 1,000 homes on the site but these were turned down by the government after seven years of arguments and two public inquiries.

Divided opinion

Ken England, from Willington Parish Council, said: "A lot of people we talk to are very happy with the towers being there.

"If you live in or near Willington and you are driving back, be it from Nottingham, Birmingham or London, you know when you see the towers you are not far from home, and I think there is a certain reassurance in that."

But Mike Peel from Npower said the only planned use for the towers in the new station was as aggregate for the foundations.

"With cooling towers you are either in one camp or the other, you either love them for hate them and there seems to be a similar response here.

"But unfortunately they will be coming down and they will be utilised in the development."

Full plans for the new station are likely to be submitted by the end of the year.