WORK to demolish the former Central Plaza hotel is continuing, with safety concerns raised by residents after a video showed the building being brought down with scaffolding still attached.

The video on social media shows a large part of the building, with the scaffolding still attached, being brought down. It has raised concerns it is unsafe.

However, Carlisle City Council has assured residents of the city that this is the normal procedure when taking demolishing a building.

The large-scale project to bring down the Grade II-listed building took a major step forward this week as work was aided by the arrival of a “high reach demolition excavator”.

Operations began on Wednesday which is when the video was taken.

Responding to the claims this was unsafe, a Carlisle City Council spokesman said: “The high reach demolition excavator is now on site and the demolition of the building is well underway.

“This is a specialist process and will include the removal of the scaffolding using the excavator. We are monitoring the site at all times and all debris will be guided into the centre of the site.

“The demolition process is going well and is expected to take a few more weeks to complete.”