The pickle line has stood at the site for decades

The distinctive blue pickle line building was blasted as part of the clearance of the site.

It is the latest in a line of buildings to be dismantled at the plant which closed two years ago.

Houses nearby were evacuated for safety reasons during the demolition but the residents have now returned home.

The explosion took place at about 1200 GMT on Wednesday and many people living nearby watched as the building was razed.

It took less than a minute for the building to fall

Alan O'Neil, who is project managing the clear up of the site, said it was a "strange sensation" to see the building being brought down.

"I was surprised how strange it felt, but the closure has taken place and its time to move on."

He said he was not surprised at the number of people who had turned up to watch the building be demolished.

"People's involvement is still so great and people are still interested even since its closure in the last two years.

Onlookers described the demolition as 'sad'

"There are a lot of people who have worked here," he added.

It was an emotional experience for May Aldred who watched the down fall of the building.

"It was a little bit sad but I suppose it will open the valley up its surprising how much we can see.

"But it is sad. It's the end of an era really.

"Your thoughts are all muddled when you see it going down, I've been brought up with it and to see it go it's sad," she added.

Black dust filled the air as the pickle line fell to the floor

The steelworks is expected to be cleared by the end of the year and a number of developments are being planned for the site including a new community hospital costing an estimated �35m.

It closed as a working steelworks in July 2002 and is in the process of being demolished.

It was shut as part of a major restructuring by Corus, under which 350 workers moved to the Netherlands or other plants in the UK.

Demolition of the plant began about a month after closure.