BUILDINGS with a long history as the home of the arms industry in Bolton have been demolished to make way for regeneration.

Workers marvelled at the sight of a building, long at the centre of the borough's industry, be torn down this week.

The building in Lostock Industrial Estate, known as Platinum Business Park, was previously occupied by MBDA Missile Systems but has been sitting empty since the company relocated some years ago.

Andrew Shute has worked nearby for around 15 years and caught the building being brought down on Wednesday: "I could just hear this huge industrial noise and I could see the big yellow arm of the crane pulling down the building.

"The site has some significance but it has gone from being an industrialised area to a brown wasteland at the moment.

"It has pretty much been razed to the ground now, they made short, sharp work of that. This crane with its big metal jaw grabbing the building and quite literally pulling it down."

Now an office furniture building wants to expand its business by creating a new purpose-built unit next to its existing office. The application submitted by Gresham Office Furniture was approved by the council.

Three of the new units have been proposed on a "speculative basis", according to the application submitted by Gresham Office Furniture.

The application said: "The proposals constitute sustainable development by reusing this existing brownfield site to deliver high quality design in both appearance and layout which will secure the long term future of this employment site."

The 2.3 hectare site is within reach of a number of busy plots in Bolton, including Middlebrook Retail and Leisure Park and the University of Bolton Stadium.

Mr Shute says he is looking forward to a new company moving in: "It will be good for the area and it will bring more employment.

"There has been a significant amount of houses built nearby on similar land, there are clearly options to build here.

"It's a sign of regeneration."