A Heckmondwike landmark is to go in a £90,000 demolition programme.

A 120-foot gas holder on Wormald Street is being dismantled over the next 16 weeks.

The roof of the holder will be removed first before work starts to cut down the walls and then lift them out by crane.

Once an integral part of the local gas storage system, the holder had enough gas to supply 5,000 homes for the day.

The one million cubic-feet gas tank was built in 1953 and put out of commission in 1991.

Technology which increases the capacity of gas pipelines means it is no longer needed.

Ruth Thompson, Transco's north of England director, said the demolition work will create some noise and smell, although it will not present a health hazard.

"The gasholders are very much a local landmark and although they have not been pretty to look at, they certainly served their purpose for many years - to supply gas to the people of Heckmondwike, even through the coldest of winters," she said.