A REDUNDANT gas holder at Bondgate, Otley, which has served the town's storage needs for almost a century, is being demolished.

The holder, built in 1900 by Robert Dempster and Sons, is being dismantled by specialist contractors working for BG Property. The work is being carried out for Transco, which looks after gas storage for the BG group. The holder was decommissioned earlier this year.

Letters have been distributed to householders and businesses in the area to spell out the nature and purpose of the works and to give more general information

A spokesman for BG said: "Contractors have started cutting up steel structure into manageable sizes for disposal off-site and have advised that this will create some noise and smells from the work, although these do not present any hazard. Every effort will be made to minimise the impact if the work on residents."

The spokesman added that the holder, measuring 85 feet in diameter with walls 20 feet high, has a third of its mechanism underground and its removal will improve the general look of the area.

BG plc Property Division says at the moment it has no firm redevelopment plans for the site.

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