THE demolition of the Beaumont estate towers has finally began.

St Catherine's tower and St Paul's tower, both 22 storeys high, will be dismantled and replaced by two landscaped squares as part of a two-year, £40 million pound regeneration of the estate off Capworth Street, Leyton, Furnishings are being stripped out now and the towers will start to come down in a few weeks, although many residents will be disappointed to learn the blocks will not be blown up, but dismantled gradually.

The four-storey St Mark's Court, the shops at 3 to 19 Capworth Street, the bungalows in Beaumont Road, Kings Close, Muriel Court, St Edward's Court and Dare Court, the redundant pram stores and a stair tower at Ayerst Court will also be destroyed.

Housebuilders John Laing Partnership, which will be running the £26.3 million project, plans to draw up to 20 per cent of its workers from the local area and train them to become skilled construction workers.

In total, 91 new homes have been built and a further 221 will appear over the next two years, including 23 for wheelchair users.

A webcam has been installed in one of the flats which will record the demolition.

When the link is set up, anyone will be able to log on to the website at www.lqgroup.org.uk and watch the towers come down.