THE PAINSTAKING task of demolishing ruins of the former Jennings store has started.
An excavator moved onto the Brooke Street, Inglewood, site Friday morning to start removing rubble.
The front section of the historic store was destroyed by fire last year and the facade demolished after fears it would collapse onto the street.
Bricks, believed to have been made in the district more than 140 years ago, have been carefully pulled from the rubble and some are now neatly stacked on an adjoining block.
Owner David Oakley and descendants of the Jennings family hope to salvage bricks and old beams to use in partial restoration that will see the rear section of the store retained.
They received a last-minute reprieve from the whole site being demolished.
Remaining side walls of the store built in about 1866 have to be reduced to a height of 1.6 metres.
Mr Oakley watched as demolition work started and he hoped the restoration project was achieved. He has continued to sell chickens since the fire.