DEMOLITION work has begun on the former fire station in Bury - a long-time target for vandals and arsonists.

Graffiti has been daubed across the external walls of the building and most of the windows have been smashed.

And firefighters have returned to the spot often to extinguish deliberately-set fires there, since crews moved to a state-of-the-art station nearby at Chamberhall business park in 2012.

Contractors are now on site and the land is to be marketed by the town hall, which owns the location.

Fire chiefs confirmed, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request last year, that the dilapidated building had been sold off to Bury Council.

The fire station site was listed two years ago, alongside the likes of the former police station, which has been redeveloped, Townside and the former bus depot off Rochdale Road as prime brownfield regeneration locations.