MAJOR building work is underway at the UK's largest grain terminal at the Port of Tilbury following an explosion and fire last year.

Thurrock Nub News reported on the blast which miraculously saw no-one injured.

Investigations are still continuing into the cause of the incident but work to demolish the buildings has now started.

Tilbury Grain terminal has been in operation for more than 50 years and handles more than two million tons of product from around the world every year.

Demolition of the damaged concrete silos is underway and, at the same time, construction of phase one of metal silos is underway with the first three new silos having been constructed.

The new silos, both phase one and phase two which will see the reconstruction of the concrete silos, will come online in stages. Phase one is expected to return 20,000 metric tonnes of capacity in early 2022 and the remaining 34,000 m/t of storage will be restored in 2023.

These will all be constructed to the highest health and safety standards and will be industry-leading.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury said: "The grain terminal is a vital asset at The Port of Tilbury and plays a major role in supplying businesses with the grain needed to support their brands.

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"Following the fire last summer, we worked hard to ensure there was limited interruption to customer service and now with the new silos being constructed, we can be confident that the new facility will set the highest industry standards for silo construction.

"In the meantime, we want to extend our thanks to our customer base for the loyalty and support they have shown us through what has been a difficult period."

During these works there will be no interruption to customer service as the terminal remains fully open for import and export.