ENGINEERING giant Rolls-Royce has launched a bid to demolish several buildings at one of its sites in the North-East.

In recent years, the firm announced plans to invest more than £30million into a new aerospace facility next to its existing Washington factory.

As part of the changes, employees from the Pallion Industrial Estate factory, off the B1405, in Sunderland moved to the new site.

Now, Rolls-Royce has lodged an application with Sunderland City Council to demolish nine buildings at the Pallion factory.

The works form part of the decommissioning process and include removing steel-framed buildings, levelling the site to its concrete foundations and removing debris.

A letter submitted to the council on behalf of Rolls-Royce states the works will allow the firm to “rationalise and consolidate operations on site.”

If approved, bulldozers will move in on four workshops, offices and other buildings including the canteen, chemical store and barrel store.

The recent multi-million pound investment in Rolls-Royce’s Washington site marks the final stage of the firm’s modernisation programme for disc manufacturing in the North-East.

As part of the demolition plans for the Pallion site, which is more than 60 years old, one workshop building is also expected to be retained.

Wildlife surveys carried out during the planning process also  concluded there was low potential for roosting bats.

The firm hope to start Pallion works on February 4, 2019 subject to a final decision from planning bosses by Wednesday, January 16.