WORK has begun to demolish 'aged facilities' on the Glaxosmithkline site in Ulverston.

A number of redundant structures, buildings, plant and equipment within the GSK site are currently being knocked down, a spokeswoman has confirmed.

A small number of complex/high structures are being dismantled as part of the project, including the redundant former cooling tower within the boiler house.

According to the plans, which were submitted in February last year, the demolished buildings will be left at slab level and any recesses will be back filled using crushed stone to slab level.

The plans propose the ‘aged facilities’ are removed and demolished to reduce energy usage, rates and workforce.

There are currently no plans for redevelopment of the demolished site.

The plans state that the demolition work is expected to be finished by December next year.

The application comes almost two years after GSK announced 200 of the 360 jobs at the Ulverston site would be made redundant.

The news has been a devastating blow for Ulverston which had previously been poised to benefit from a £350m biopharmaceutical facility.

In July 2017 GSK announced the investment would no longer go ahead, a U-turn which had been exclusively revealed by The Mail in December 2016.

The redundancies follow GSK’s decision to stop manufacturing ingredients of sterile injections at Ulverston.

Since news of the jobs losses was announced, a £500,000 scheme was set up to help mitigate the impact of the redundancies.

The GSK Enterprise Fund, co-ordinated by Cumbria Business Growth Hub, offered grants between £2,000 and £100,000 to businesses across South Cumbria to meet up to 30 per cent of the cost of projects that create permanent jobs.