Now you see it, now you don't.

Part of Norwich's industrial history is no more after the boiler chimney at the city's former Bally shoe factory came crashing down this morning.

Demolition work at the Hall Road site started in February, to make way for a major £122m development, with a new Asda store as its centrepiece.

Much of the site has already been flattened, but up until today, the chimney still loomed over what remains of the factory.

However, Paul Shreeve, who lives opposite the site, noticed this morning that the chimney was going to bite the dust and made sure he captured the collapse on camera.

He said: 'After a couple of hours 'pecking' away at the concrete with a concrete breaking digger, another digger pushed the chimney over. It fell quickly, and a small shockwave was felt through the ground in the houses opposite.'

Planning permission for the development was granted in 2013.

The scheme will include an Asda store, petrol filling station, gym, pub, community centre and a car park. It will provide around 400 jobs, 300 of which will be within Asda itself.

As previously reported, the plans were originally rejected by Norwich City Council's planning committee in late 2012, but were then approved less than three months later.

The Bally shoe factory, which used to employ hundreds of people when Norwich was a leader in the shoe-making industry, closed its doors for the last time in 1999.

• Do you have memories of the old factory? Write (giving your full contact details) to: Letters Editor, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE.