THESE were the scenes in Cwmbran yesterday, as work to demolish the old County Hall continues.

Contractors Walters Demolition moved on to the site in January and began preliminary works on the building, prior to demolition.

Now, works have started on the demolition of the debating chamber and associated structures, which will continue until the end of the month.

Between May and June, the civic offices will be knocked down.

County Hall, in Croesyceiliog – most recently shared by Monmouthshire and Torfaen councils – closed last year because the building has ‘concrete cancer’.

With rain penetrating the cladding and rusting steel supports, it would have cost £30million to repair.

Further to this, a disused nuclear shelter built on the site created a void in the ground underneath.

The void is so large that after the building is demolished, large amounts of soil will need to be imported to level off the site.

As a consequence, the asset valuation of the site was revised down to £275,000: it had originally been estimated to be worth £900,000.