A DEMOLITION notice has been served to pull down two town centre tower blocks.

But it could be 2015 before the Ibbotson and Lonsbrough flats are razed to make way for a Tesco superstore. Click below for a gallery of pictures taken from the top of neighbouring Richmond flats.

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Kirklees has given official notification of demolition, which is a legal requirement.

It invites claims for compensation, which when Cabinet backed the proposal was £4,700 for the 41 long-term residents, meaning the council could have faced a bill of up to £192,700.

However, a Kirklees spokeswoman says some of the residents moved out before any eligibility for payment came into force and the council bill should be reduced on its first estimate.

The spokeswoman said: “We haven’t got a firm date for demolition yet as it will be carried out by Tesco once they receive vacant possession of the site for their new store, which won’t be until 2015 when the new sports centre is completed.

“By law tenants whose homes are being demolished are entitled to a £4,700 home loss fee.

“As some of the tenants moved out before they were eligible for the payments, the amount to be paid will be less than originally estimated.”

The tower blocks were branded “eyesores”, “drugs dens” and “places of squalor” at a Kirklees Cabinet meeting.

They will make way for Tesco, which can build on the site of the two blocks, the current sports centre and swimming pool, car park and other adjacent buildings, when the new leisure facility opens at Spring Grove.

The neighbouring Richmond Flats are being renovated at a cost of £2.18m.

The two doomed blocks are named after two great Huddersfield sporting heroes – Derek Ibbotson and Anita Lonsbrough.

Ibbotson was a record-breaking athlete while Lonsbrough won gold in the pool at the Rome Olympics in 1960.

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