A PEACEFUL Sunday morning in rural Oxfordshire was interrupted by a loud bang when a 74-metre-high chimney came crashing to the ground.

The concrete chimney at Shipton Quarry near Shipton-on-Cherwell, Kidlington, was demolished on Sunday morning by explosives as the last stage of shutting down the old Blue Circle cement works.

One resident said: “There was at around 9am this morning a very loud bang in the Woodstock area.

“It shook the house and has sent flocks of birds careering into the skies to get away.

“There was no sign of smoke but it was a huge noise.”

Earthline Ltd has spent the past year demolishing the old Blue Circle cement works, of which the chimney was the last part.

West Oxfordshire district councillor for Woodstock Julian Cooper said: “It’s going to be a change in the landscape. It’s been there all my life although it hasn’t been used for many years.

“I didn’t hear the bang and I had no idea it was coming down.

“It will be interesting to see what they put there next.”

Afterwards onlookers were allowed to walk the length of the chimney and get a closer inspection.