THE REMAINING building at Cockenzie Power Station will be brought down in two parts with the first controlled explosion planned for Wednesday, November 4.

Demolition workers have been onsite since the chimneys were brought down last month clearing debris and stripping the giant boiler house back to its bare structure.

Thousands lined the coastline and surrounding countryside to witness the demolition of the two chimneys, however ScottishPower said the latest demolitions were not going to be a major viewing spectacle.

The first explosion will take place at 2pm when the John Muir Way and Edinburgh Road will be closed to the public around the power station site, part of the Greenhills will remain open.

The demolition will bring down the "de-aerator bay", which forms part of the main boiler house. It is located to the south side of the building and is approximately 236 metres long, 14 metres wide and 56 metres high.

ScottishPower has stressed the explosion will not bring down the full building. The remainder will be schedule for demolition later this winter.

George Camps, ScottishPower project manager, said: "Our detailed studies suggest that the best way to remove the boiler house building is with two separate controlled explosive demolitions. This first event will remove the section to the south of the building. The demolition will again be managed by Brown and Mason.

"We hope to carry out the second demolition either later this year or early next year, and we will announce more details when plans are fully developed.

"We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused by the closure of Edinburgh Road for this event, which is necessary due to the proximity of the boiler house to the road. We will do all that we can to reopen the road as quickly as possible after the event."