Rugeley Power Station demolition set to begin next month

Contractors are poised to move in to begin the job of flattening the power station which has overlooked the town for decades - paving the way for a major redevelopment of the site.

Plans for hundreds of homes and a high-tech business centre - ambitiously dubbed Europe's Silicon Valley - have been lined up for the site once the power station is cleared.

An application to start demolition work in May has been lodged with planning bosses.

The iconic towers are expected to be among the last parts of the station to be knocked down.

Council chiefs have been eager for the power station to be bulldozed as soon as possible since its closure two years ago in order to free up the 374-acre plot for homes and businesses.

Around 1,800 homes have been earmarked for the land while 4,500 jobs could be created as part of ambitious plans for a major tech centre.

Lichfield District Council leader Mike Wilcox said: "We are working with Cannock to try and get the site moved as quickly as possible.

"It is a site that has been disused and we want to try and make good use. We are looking to build houses there and the Government will probably want to build more on there.

"Rather than having a derelict site, we will have housing and we are working collectively with Cannock Chase District Council to deliver that.

"We want to try and create jobs and for people who take those jobs to live locally to where they work which is great for the economy and the environment."

Councillor Wilcox said it would be the end of an era for Rugeley when the power station synonymous with the town finally disappears from view.

He said: "It has been on the landscape, for many of us, all our lives. I'm sure it will be tinged with sadness when it eventually gets demolished.

"But it doesn't serve a purpose anymore and what is important is providing homes so young people can get on the housing ladder."