Down they come

Today was the day the old council offices came down.
Cracks had started to appear in the buildings some time ago and because of the age, the council decided to demolish them.
Given that they were surrounded by business and residential buildings, it was decided to do this by controlled explosion.
The firm undertaking this task systematically stripped everything out leaving just the shells of the buildings and placed the charges.
Roads where closed from 6pm last night, residents within the 150 meter exclusion zone were evacuated across to Leicester Tigers rugby club and the countdown began.
A siren sounded 5 minutes before and then at 10am you heard a series of explosions followed by a cracking rumble as slowly the front building started to fold quickly followed by the one behind.
It lasted between 3-4 minutes before a huge cloud of dust enveloped the area followed by cheers and shouts of those able to view the proceedings from various vantage points.
I was lucky to be standing on the rooftop of my friends apartment overlooking the site. I took about 36 shots in all. These show the buildings as they stood and the stages of the demolition
It`s on the BBC online news and probably on Youtube.....brilliant to watch