A BASINGSTOKE eyesore will soon be no more following the start of its demolition this week.

The prominent Basingstoke building, Telford House, in Houndmills, is set to make way for five new trade units and a drive-through restaurant after the plans were given the green light by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

The Strathclyde Pension Fund, administered by Glasgow City Council, was given planning permission by the council, which owns the freehold to the site, in June last year to demolish the 1970s building and replace it with five new units and a drive-through restaurant.

The scheme is set to provide 51 full-time jobs.

Before the full demolition of the building started on Monday, a six-week project to gut the building and remove asbestos was undertaken by the demolition team contractors J Mould.

Colin Prendergast, demolition manager at the site, told The Gazette: “It won’t be done for another four or five weeks. We are hoping to get the building down by the middle of next week to the first floor level.

“With the way that it is going, we might get it down to a decent height on Friday but it is going quite well. It is a bit of a challenge with the elements.

“The quicker we get the height down, the easier it will be because the winds are five times stronger than on the ground. It is a major project for us, it is in a good location and it is a well-known building in Basingstoke.”

Following the demolition, J Mould is hoping to recycle around 95 per cent of the building materials.

It is not known who will occupy the trade units and the drive-through at this stage as talks are still ongoing to find tenants to enter an agreement before the restaurant and units are built.

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