WORK has started on reshaping the heart of Thornaby with half the town centre being demolished.

Three Sixties shopping blocks are being bulldozed, with demolition starting on two of them - Brus and Meynell Houses - this week.

The £20m revamp should be completed in the spring of 2009, but project manager Nigel Laws said local people and town centre workers would start seeing a difference from next month.

"It will give people a different perspective, a different look altogether," he said.

"Now, it's pretty much a one-sided mall. But it will be a two-sided mall."

He said modernising Thornaby town centre had always been a Stockton Borough Council priority, only put on hold by the need to take vacant possession of some of the properties affected.

Mr Laws said: "We are trying to make the centre more attractive - to create a balance between the small retailers who are there, while trying to bring in large, national multiples as well."

He added: "The contractors, Walter Forshaw, have completed all the preparation works and now the main demolition can start. This will be a big step forward in the regeneration of the town centre.

"There have been really positive negotiations with retailers, and a number of major national retailers have signed up, together with local traders committing themselves to the future of the town centre."

Stockton council is working in partnership with developer Thornfield Properties Ltd on the multi-million pound redevelopment, which will include new shop and office units, as well as the refurbishment of businesses.

Rubble from the demolished Brus and Meynell Houses will be removed, and the site will be resurfaced and transformed into a car park in the autumn, when the main programme of work starts.

Nearby Appleby House will be demolished at a later date.

Ian Sanderson, of Thornfield Properties, said: "It is always an excellent project milestone to see bulldozers move onto site.

"People of Thornaby have been asking to see real progress for quite some time, and after a lot of hard work by Stockton Council, ourselves and our team, they can watch as the new town centre takes shape."