AN unusual spectator sport has brought crowds flocking to Blackburn town centre.

An industrial 'munching machine' is demolishing Lord Square, with onlookers in Church Street using their mobile phones to record the eyesore being reduced to rubble.

Our reporter got behind the controls of the 100-tonne machine to have a go himself and find out what all the fuss was about.

PICKING a building to pieces with the munching machine looks so easy from down below.

But peering out from the cockpit of the "long reach excavator", perched on top of a huge pile of rubble, you realise it's not so simple.

The dashboard is a step up from the computer-console joystick I'd been hoping for.

With two 360 degree controllers, it was more like a giant version of a fairground teddy bear-grabber. And I was never any good at those.

There were also plenty of confusing buttons and three foot-pedals thrown in, but I stuck to the one on the right on the advice of project manager Adrian Thornley.

He fired up the ignition and told me to use the right-hand joystick to guide the claw', which can smash through steel, into the top of the former Halifax Building Society building.

It only took a gentle push with one finger to set things in motion - but the 28-metre arm went in the opposite direction and my first lunge left the building unscathed.

The onlookers in Church Street, mobile phones pointing skywards, must have groaned in disappointment.

On the second attempt it just about connected, and the sheer power of the machine hit home as the claw smashed through the concrete as if it was made of paper.

The pedal is used to open and close the claw to pick away individual parts of the building, but I didn't have the co-ordination for that.

And when the giant arm came swinging towards the cockpit when I pulled the wrong joystick, I realised why mayor Maureen McGarvey had screamed when she got the demolition underway on Wednesday morning. It's a daunting experience first time.

Judging by the progress made since Wednesday - there's a gaping hole next to Church Street - the experts don't have quite so much trouble.

Adrian, who works for demolition firm the Controlled Group, has been operating the machines for 10 years.

He said: "It's like being in a goldfish bowl sometimes. People are always hanging out of windows and standing watching. But I wouldn't do anything else.

"It's the typical boys with toys' job."

One of the best views has been enjoyed by the hairdressers in Scizzorhands & Co, upstairs in Church Street.

Joint owner Pauline Horrocks said: "It's absolutely wonderful because we just look out over it - we must have the best view.

"We have seen so many men just standing and watching what's going on. I think people were ready for it to come down. We've been waiting so long."

Demolition is set to last 15 weeks. When the demolition crew moves out, construction of Blackburn's new £66 million shopping can begin.