CRANES, high-pressure hoses, crushers, cherry pickers and bales of straw have all been involved in the demolition of Exeter's old incinerator at Marsh Barton.

The incinerator, which was in operation from 1969 to 1996, is making way for the city's new £44.7million energy-from-waste plant to be run by Viridor.

Until the demolition work began, the site was used as a waste transfer station for Exeter's municipal rubbish, before being bulked up and sent to landfill at Newton Abbot.

The Wring Group started the demolition work in mid-May.

According to site supervisor Tim Sharp, the project has gone smoothly and is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Virtually all that is left now is the steel framework of the loading bay tower.

Mr Sharp said: "There have been no surprises.

"The incinerator itself and all the outbuildings have gone and it is just the loading bay tower which is left.

"We have to take the roof off this first and then we can start dismantling the steel framework, but you can cut that in such a way that it folds in on itself like a hinge."

The corrugated facade of the tower was filthy so the contractors used a high-pressure hose to wash it, having spread straw around the bottom of the tower so that the water and grime would be soaked up.

Everything possible from the site is being recycled — the steel is being sold as scrap and the rubble from the outbuildings is being crushed and will be used on-site to bring the ground across the whole site up to the same level.

Western Power Distribution was called in to move an electricity sub station from the site.

Viridor is hoping that the construction work can begin this autumn and that the new plant will be operational from spring 2013.

Construction will take a total of 30 months.

The development will create between 20 and 25 jobs and the building will be approximately 22 metres in height and the stack 60 metres high.

It will be paid for by contractor Viridor Waste — South West Water's sister company — which will recoup its money by charging a gate fee from councils taking so-called grey waste, which cannot be recycled, there to be disposed of.

French company Tiru won the contract to build the new plant, which will deal with waste from Exeter and areas to the south and east of the city and be capable of recovering heat and electrical power from controlled combustion of up to 60,000 tonnes of non-hazardous wastes, generating 3.6 megawatts of electricity.

The new plant already has full planning permission and an environmental permit.