A Cleckheaton company is on schedule to complete a demolition job which is expected to play a major part in the renaissance of Leeds city centre.

Controlled Demolition Group is around halfway through the £1.5 million, 27-week project to reduce the ugly 1970s Royal Mail building in Wellington Street to a heap of rubble. Almost half of the building has been razed to the ground with the space earmarked for a £120m commercial project.

Controlled Demolition said the contract was a "substantial win" for the firm. It has employed a 60-strong team on site for the job in Leeds. The demolition contract includes the removal of all traces of asbestos from the former central sorting office.

The firm has engineered a steel bracing structure to stabilise the tower while the lower buildings surrounding it are taken out with long-reach excavators that will be on site for six to eight weeks.

Cantilevered scaffolding will be used to allow the demolition team to remove concrete fascia panels from the tower, which will then be crushed inside the building to keep dust pollution to a minimum.

Controlled Demolition Group managing director Darren Palin said the firm was pleased to win the contract with Shepherd Construction. "We are delighted to be associated with this exciting project," he said.

"We were selected for the job because of our vast experience in carrying out city centre demolition with minimum disturbance, noise and dust pollution, and because we are used to working alongside developers, who in this case will be preparing foundations for the new building as we demolish the old one around them.

"We are also one of the only demolition companies in the UK with a background in 'recycling' part buildings - in this case the main 11-storey tower, which is to be re-clad to create an impressive residential building. The reuse of existing structures is a growing national trend, especially in city centres where modern planning regulations often prohibit the building of new tower blocks."

Once the demolition work has been completed, the site will be used for the £120 million West Central commercial and residential development. Due for completion in 2005, it will be one of Leeds' largest mixed-use developments with residential apartments as well as offices.

The company has also been boosted by news that it has been shortlisted for the sixth consecutive year in two categories in the 'Oscars' of the construction industry.

In October, Controlled Demolition Group representatives will travel to London's Grosvenor Hotel for the prestigious Contract Journal Construction Industry Awards. They hope to scoop the Silver Helmet Award for safety and demolition contractor of the year.

Managing director Darren Palin said: "We are proud to say that we are the only demolition company to have been shortlisted for Demolition Contractor of the Year every year since the category began six years ago and are the only demolition company to win it twice."