A WATER Tower at Bacup's Irwell Mill had to be demolished in dramatic style yesterday after workers noticed hairline cracks in the building.

The stability of the tower in Rochdale Road was called into question when an on site staff member noticed the potential hazard at about 3pm.

Bosses at A Connolly, based in Accrington, and council officials were alerted and went to the demolition site, and took drastic action to demolish the tower that afternoon.

Mike Holland, company director, said: "A member of staff noticed the water tower had become unstable.

"So instead of waiting we took immediate action to make the area safe. The road was cordoned off for a short period while the work was carried out for safety reasons.

"We have some of the best plant machinery in the country which is one of the reasons we were able to deal with the matter so promptly.

"We don't know what would have happened if the tower had have been left overnight, but that was a risk we were not going to take."

Work has been carried out for the past two weeks at the site .

Bosses hope to have the demolition of the derelict mill completed by the beginning of next month.