DERBY aero engine-maker Rolls-Royce has been given the go-ahead to knock down several buildings at its Sinfin site.
Following an application to Derby City Council, the authority has raised no objections to the company demolishing 16 industrial buildings, which front Wilmore Road and Sinfin Lane, at its civil aerospace site.
According to the company, the structures had become "obsolete".
It has now decided to clear the site, which covers six hectares, to create new space for possible future expansion.
The demolition of the buildings also means the firm will no longer have to continue paying empty property rates on them.
The tax sees companies charged for allowing commercial buildings to stand empty.
In recent years, Rolls-Royce has invested millions of pounds into the Sinfin site, creating new facilities to build and test aero engines, as well as train more apprentices.
In the demolition statement, which was prepared by Milton Keynes-based planning consultants David Lock Associates and submitted to the city council along with its application, Rolls-Royce said: "The demolition works are being undertaken to remove potential liabilities associated with derelict buildings at this site.
"The demolition will create a cleared brownfield site capable of future redevelopment to serve Rolls-Royce's evolving operational requirements."
It is not known when the buildings became surplus to requirements but Rolls-Royce said that at some point they were used for manufacturing, although the firm could not specify what was made in them.
The firm said none of the buildings were "of any particular architectural or historic merit".
The company said that it did not have any solid plans for the site once the buildings had been cleared.
Last year, Rolls-Royce successfully applied for permission to demolish another factory in Derby that played a part in the production of the Merlin engine, which powered RAF planes during the Second World War.
The firm was given the green light to knock down its former light alloy foundry in Osmaston Road – a 15-acre site that had been shut since 2004.
Rolls-Royce flattened the buildings, which had become a target for vandals, to create a "brownfield development opportunity", such as a business park.
