The demolition of a 28-metre high tower is to be carried out on Thursday at Tilbury Power Station.

RWE Npower is planning to bring down one of the coal junction towers and its connected conveyors.

Not one of the highest chimneys on the site, the structure to be blown up is made mostly of steel and is approximately 28 metres in height.

The explosion and collapse is likely to be heard off site, but any noise will be over in under a minute, the company said.

A spokeswoman for the company said no members of the public would be allowed access to the site during the explosion.

She said: "For safety reasons there's an exclusion zone in place so there won't be any public access."

They added it would “not impact local businesses, community or local traffic” and no emergency services would be required, except for a ‘minimal’ police presence.

Road sweepers and road cleaners will also be on hand should they be required.

Steve Boughton, RWE’s Head of Business Development UK said: “Brown and Mason have worked on these demolition plans for the past six months in order to minimise local disruption. We will ensure we keep local people informed of future project developments.”

The spokeswoman said the coal tower explosion was the “only” explosive demolition planned for 2016.

Explosive demolitions planned for 2017 on the site include chimneys, boiler house, turbine hall and bunker house.

The complete demolition of the site, which closed in 2013, is expected towards the end of 2018.