WORK to demolish a landmark structure that has stood in Carlisle for nearly 100 years is continuing.

The former gasometer on Rome Street, opposite the tip, now has a huge hole in the side of it as heavy plant machinery is brought onto site to bring it down.

The holder was built in 1928 to store town gas or coal gas.

They were manufactured at the time as a storage facility as more gas was manufactured than there was demand.

It is being demolished because today's national network is so efficient.

A spokesman for Northern Gas Networks said: "The National Gas Network is now very efficient and can now meet periods of high or very high demand without the reliance on back up or stored gas.

"As the holders are obsolete it is far more cost effective to dismantle them than continue to provide maintenance of such assets."

A gasometer on Solway Road in Carlisle is in the process of being demolished.

It was built in 1949 but was mothballed in the mid 1990s and fully decommissioned in March 2008.

Now work is underway to take down the redundant structure.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

All residual gas from the holder was removed and made safe during the decommissioning process.

All live gas pipework to and from the holder was disconnected and diverted as part of that process.

In other countries and cities leisure uses have been found for old gasometers.

In Dublin one became an eight-storey block of flats and in Cairns, Australia many - located in the Botanical Gardens - were cleaned and became concert venues and had other practical public uses.