A DEMOLITION company has launched its biggest-ever asbestos removal operation in Yorkshire as it takes down a mammoth stand at York Racecourse.

Controlled Demolition Group is well known for blasting high-rise structures across the globe.

But it is using more traditional methods in its £750,000 contract to demolish the 50 metre by 40 metre Members' stand on Knavesmire.

The group's commercial director, Darren Palin, said a team of up to 30 men would be working on the 22-week project.

A major consideration was the removal of asbestos from the stand, built in the 1960s.

He said the company was fully registered for such work and this, along with a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents award for safety, demonstrated its unrivalled expertise in this area.

"Although we have removed asbestos and other contaminants from buildings all over the world, this is the largest asbestos removal project we have ever undertaken in Yorkshire," he said.

The company had further boosted its investment in specialised equipment, and now owned four decontamination and negative pressure units and positive pressure respiratory protection to remove all trace contaminants.

The two-tier stand under demolition is currently the largest at York Racecourse and includes seating for 500 and standing room for 300, with a village of ten bars and restaurants underneath.

It's close proximity to three other buildings - the new Knavesmire Stand built in the 1990s, the Grade II Listed Victorian County Stand just a foot away, and the course's main administrative block - calls for precision demolition.

Controlled Demolition Group, which holds the title Demolition Contractor of the Year, will subsequently have responsibility for removing all the resulting rubble from the site - up to 16,000 tonnes.

The demolition is part of a larger £20 million project under which a new, more luxurious stand will be built by Alfred McAlpine.

Updated: 14:33 Wednesday, November 14, 2001