This is the moment a historic piece of Tilbury’s skyline – one of the coal towers at the now-defunct Tilbury Power Station – came down this afternoon.

A controlled explosion had to be carried out as part of the ongoing demolition works at the site since it closed in 2013.

Staff on site from Brown & Mason had spent days preparing the site, by packing four explosive charges of packed nitroglycerin beneath the tower and under the legs of the steel conveyor belt leading up to it.

Around eight staff were taken to a ‘locked down’ field in front of the site from 1pm to watch the explosion at 2pm.

Overhead, a drone burred, a sign that things have changed since this tower was built, along with the rest of the station, in the 1960s.

RWE staff on site explained it was ‘like a military operation’ making sure no people were anywhere near the vicinity of the explosive charges.

The drone was to film the controlled explosion which would bring down the 28 metre high steel structure.

The first explosion shook the ground, with the main tower going first, followed in milliseconds by the legs of the conveyor belt.

The remaining chimneys are planned to come down in controlled explosions at some point next year, with full demolition of the site on course to be completed by 2018.