EIGHTY years of history came falling down today as a 150-ft chimney was demolished.

The demolition at the former William Blythe factory, in Hapton, could be seen from miles around as smoke billowed high into the sky.

John Warburton, 57, who led the demolition, said it was one of the toughest jobs in his career, which has seen him complete 87 such tasks.

The site, off Manchester Road, is being cleared to be sold by Blythe’s, which now operates from a consolidated site in Church.

Mr Warburton, of Warburton’s Steeplejacks of Blackburn, said: “This has been a very hard one.

"Normally I would spend two days preparing for a demolition like this, but we’ve been here for four days.

"The walls are six-feet thick and it makes it much more difficult to fell.”

The chimney at the chemical factory was built around 80 years ago and Mr Warburton and his family business have been maintaining it for years.

It was constructed with the famous strong Accrington Nori bricks, which Mr Warburton said made felling the building even tougher.

The demolition team used an old-fashioned “Fred Dibnah” technique to topple the landmark, which stands near the M65.

Rather then use explosives, which could make it unpredictable as to where the chimney would fall, the team used a technique to cut a large hole at the bottom of the chimney, supporting the brickwork with wooden props, and then burnt away the props so the chimney fell.

Huge plumes of smoke could be seen above Hapton as the fibreglass flue caught fire and the fire service were called, although not needed.

The chimney fell at around 3.30pm.

Mr Warburton said: “This was a chimney that we had a great connection with.

"It is a shame to see it go.”