THE owners of Didcot Power Station have confirmed they will blast the remaining half of the boiler house in the next two weeks.

A letter was sent out to residents yesterday warning them of the immanent controlled explosion.

The announcement comes after RWE said in June it was necessary to carry out the demolition following the collapse of half of the structure in February, which killed worker Mick Collings and left trapped Chris Huxtable, 34, from Swansea, Ken Cresswell, 57, and John Shaw, 61, both from Rotherham.

Robots began placing explosives yesterday around the unstable structure but Kelly Nye, spokeswoman for RWE owners of the site, said it could take up to two weeks before the demolition takes place.

She said: "We will notify residents 48 hours before the controlled demolition is due to take place.

"But this will happen within the next two weeks.

"At the moment because the site is too dangerous for humans to go into, we are having to use robots to place the explosives.

"Currently we cannot place a specific date on when the explosion will take place."

The letter also said there will be a number of road closures for up to two hours while the demolition takes place.

It is planned for a small section of the A4130 to be closed between the railway bridge and Southmead Industrial Estate and Milton Road will be closed between the railway bridge and the traffic lights.

Ms Nye added: "The remaining structure is mostly of steel and the explosion and collapse may be heard off site, however any noise will be over in under a minute.

"It is possible that there will be airborne dust, this is not harmful but could cause a nuisance.

"We would recommend keeping doors and windows closed to minimise noise and dust nuisance."

Residents have been assured road cleaners and sweepers will be out in force after the controlled explosion.

After the building has been brought down and an inspection confirms the area is safe, the recovery operation will resume.