HEAVY machinery has been moving in as workers continue the delicate job of tearing down the old home of Reading Borough Council.

The now-derelict Civic Centre was vacated last December and is in the process of being demolished after the council moved to its new home in Bridge Street.

Due to the amount of asbestos in the structure contractors are having to carefully remove parts of the building before it can be razed to the ground in its entirety.

The 1970s-built concrete tower has been boarded up for more than nine months with little obvious work to the outside of the building.

As the work to safely remove the asbestos from the walls progresses machinery could be seen tearing away some of the ground and basement floor walls on the western side of the building.

A council spokesman said: "The old Mayor's Parlour is in the process of being demolished and the single storey committee rooms will follow in the next few weeks, after they have been stripped of asbestos.

"Demolition of the main building is currently scheduled to start in the new year as asbestos removal is ongoing."

When internal water leaks led to staff evacuations the bill for keeping the offices in working order begun to creep higher.

In order to cut down on running costs councillors decide to move into the vacant office complex Plaza West in Bridge Street.

The move is estimated by council officers to use around 75 per cent less energy and save taxpayers from footing the £100m restoration bill.

The smaller office space also took into account the continuing reduction in staff as tighter budgets have led to hundreds of redundancies.