DEMOLITION work on the former Swindon College building is expected to start during the first two weeks of May – once the hoardings have gone up.

Developer Ashfield Land has faced many delays since acquiring the site in Regent Circus in 2006, but has appointed contractor Wring Demolition to start pulling down the eyesore.

Council leader Rod Bluh and Forward Swindon originally said the contractor intended to move in to start demolition today, but Ashfield Land director James Digby said he did not know where that date came from.

The £50m project includes a 52,000sq ft Morrisons superstore, eight restaurants and bars, a 30,000sq ft six-screen Cineworld cinema and a 450-space car park.

Preparatory work has already started with the removal of trees around the site. The college car park was closed on April 5 because the space will become part of the demolition site and then part of the frontage for the new development.

Mr Digby said: “I’m still at a loss where the date April 16 ever came from. That was never announced.

“A demolition contract has been let to Wring Group. Now, before they can start on site, there’s a number of things to go through, for example liaising with the statutory authorities in terms of service disconnections in the area.

“The hoardings are all on order. The hoardings should go up in the first or second week in May and they will be getting on initially stripping out the building to meet the recycling requirements and recycling legislation.

“There’s a lot of work going on in the background but the hoardings will go up in early May and then stripping out of the building will happen. Once all that is complete, then the building will be taken down piece by piece, and once that’s completed, it’s anticipated the demolition will be completed by summer.”

Mr Digby said the high-rise building would not be blown up or smashed with a wrecking ball but slowly dismantled, partly because it is in a residential area. That will mean the skyline will change slowly.

In relation to the car park, he said the land was owned by Ashfield Land, but had been leased back free of charge to the council, which would be in control of the facility until the hoardings went up in May.

When the car park closed, nearby businesses feared they would lose trade and called on the council and Ashfield Land to make alternative customer parking provision nearby.

Mr Digby said Cineworld, Morrisons and restaurant Ask had all signed up to be part of the leisure development, with two more restaurants due to be announced in the next fortnight. These are thought to be the Nando’s and Prezzo chains.

Construction, it is hoped, will start in early autumn, with an opening date in 2014.