THE south Essex skyline is set to change forever after a deal to demolish Coryton’s iconic towers and chimneys was struck.

Brown and Mason has been employed by the Thames Enterprise Park to dismantle the old refinery structures.

The work, expected to take two years, is the next stage in the site’s transformation into an oil port and cutting-edge business technology centre.

The Coryton oil refinery closed in June 2012 after its owner, Petroplus Refining and Marketing, went into administration.

More than 700 jobs were lost with the plant’s demise. But a consortium led by oil firm Vopak bought the site and is in the process of turning half of it into an oil import terminal and the other half into the Thames Enterprise Park, which is already set to be the location of a state-of-the-art waste-to-jet fuel centre, backed by British Airways.

The oldest of the refinery structures earmarked for demolition – the boiler house and propane de-asphalter – date back to 1953. The most recent, a selective hydrogenation unit, was installed in 2012 and never used. John Kent, leader of Thurrock Council, said: “While it’s sad to see another of Thurrock’s old landmarks disappear, at the same time it’s exciting as another dynamic industry rises here and utilises our unique geographical advantages.

“The River Thames, the A13 and the M25 means Thurrock is within reach of everywhere – whether in this country or abroad.

“That much of the site’s infrastructure is being converted to a use that’s new yet still related to the traditional oil industry is one thing, but that the rest will become part of the Thames Enterprise Park, something I see energising a superb new and innovative industry in Thurrock, is better still.”

Under Brown and Mason’s contract, structures will be demolished to the level of the concrete base, asbestos will be safely removed, some units will be cleaned or decontaminated before removal and materials will be segregated to maximise potential for waste recycling.

The former refinery’s tanks, jetties and loading racks are being converted into a deep water import and blending terminal at neighbouring Thames Oilport and will not be demolished under this contract.

Up to 400 acres of the 580-acre former refinery site is to be used for Thames Enterprise Park, with 140 acres now immediately available and another 70 acres to be freed up by the clearance of the refinery.

Graham Alexander, head of business development at Thames Enterprise Park, said: “The business of Thames Enterprise Park is progressing well ahead of our investment expectations. The potential of the site has become very obvious since we took ownership.

“It is a great strategic location for business and, as an established industrial site with river, road and pipeline access, has a unique set of attributes.”