The end is near for Ironbridge Power Station

Uniper, which owns the station, is looking to begin knocking down the site, beginning full demolition including the iconic cooling towers at the start of next year.

The company wants to initially demolish conveyors 6 and 7 and accompanying conveyor tower between the National Grid substation and main power station buildings at the site on Buildwas Road.

It says it needs to bring these first buildings down because of ongoing risks and to make way for full demolition.

Uniper, the owner of the former site in Buildwas announced in February that it had put the 141-hectare site up for sale.

The company said it had reached the decision to seek a buyer after considering a number of options for the site. The coal-fired and latterly biomass power station which had been generating on the site ceased operations in November 2015.

The site is nearing completion of decommissioning and full demolition of the site is expected to begin in 2018 subject to Shropshire Council approval.

A covering letter, submitted along with the plans to the council on Friday, said: "Conveyors 6 and 7 and the supporting Conveyor Tower are considered necessary for demolition due to deteriorating structural integrity and health and safety risks.

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The work is set to take place in the Autumn, and will take around 10 weeks. The council will be notified of when it will begin at least four weeks in advance, if it is given approval. Uniper says demolition work will only take place between Monday and Friday from 7.30am and 6pm and Saturday from 8.30am and 1pm. There will be no work on Sundays and Bank Holiday

Each conveyor and conveyor tower will be stripped of asbestos and will then be demolished by dissecting into sections and removing each section separately using a crane.

Uniper says dust suppression will be used to minimise dust escaping from the site and noise will be controlled while the demolition is underway.

It is anticipated that a maximum of 25 people will be employed on site for demolition work. When operational the site employed up to 180 people full time.