DEMOLITION of Lord Square - Blackburn's biggest architectural atrocity - has begun at last.

Forty years after it was built as a centrepiece to the town's 60s planning 'revolution', the bulldozers moved in.

It was originally heralded as "ahead of its time" but today critics said it had become a "terrible blot on the landscape of the town".

Blackburn MP Jack Straw praised the Lancashire Telegraph for launching a campaign six years ago calling for the eysore to be pulled down.

It will be replaced with a £66million new shopping centre and market hall.

At 11.30am today a crowd gathered in the town centre, with onlookers using mobile telephones to record the action.

Blackburn with Darwen mayor Maureen McGarvey sat in an industrial "munching" machine to get demolition under way.

Victoria Holmes, of The Mall, said: "It's going wonderfully well, and this is a great day for the town.

"There are exciting times ahead for Blackburn."

Full demolition of the Lord Square section of the shopping centre will take about 15 weeks.

The demolition firm, the Control Group, which has knocked down part of London's Millennium Dome, will use a 100-tonne machine, with a 20-metre reach, for the project.

Workmen have been on the site for several weeks carrying out preparatory work.

The Lancashire Telegraph launched a campaign in 2002 calling for the square to be pulled down.

It has since been sold to current owners The Mall, who drew up £66 million plans for a new shopping centre.

Mr Straw said: "The artist who designed so-called Lord Square should be imprisoned in a prefab in the building. What were they thinking of?"

"I am delighted that the Lancashire Telegraph has played such a lead part in getting rid of it."

The new centre, which will include shops facing out on to Church Street and a flagship Primark store, has already been given planning permission.

Coun McGarvey said she was "thrilled" to get the demolition under way as she sat next to the machine's controller, Paul Marlowe.

It was a tentative start to the job as bricks and cables were ripped off the former Yates's Wine Lodge and Blob Shop pub, later known as the Flying Haggis.

Blackburn councillor for regeneration Alan Cottam followed the mayor into the demolition hotseat.

He said: "It's another major milestone for the town.

"It's been an eyesore for a while, but hopefully we will have a big hole there in a few weeks."

Richard Prest, of Blackburn Civic Society, said Lord Square had "sterilised" the town centre.

He said: "It's great that it's going. It's such a blot on the immediate properties.

"It has created a sterile area in the South East corner of the town centre. The sooner it's redeveloped the better."

High street giant Primark will be the anchor tenant in the new scheme, taking a 50,000 sq ft store.

New Look and WH Smith are moving to larger stores in the new centre, and bosses say talks are "ongoing" with other big names.

The completion date has recently been put back to spring 2010.

About 200 car parking spaces are to be created, and council bosses are to move Blackburn's market into the lower level of the centre once it is completed.

Blackburn with Darwen council leader Coun Rigby said the redevelopment was "long overdue".

Adrian Thornley of the Control Group said all the rubble except for the wooden sections would be crushed on site and used in the new building.