Demolition work has started on one of the best-known sports clubhouses in Ipswich after it was declared unsafe by its borough owners.

The Ransomes sports club, off Sidegate Avenue, was built in the 1960s for the huge engineering firm and handed over to Ipswich Borough Council in the early 1990s.

It was then leased to the Ransomes’ Sports Club but two years ago the lease was claimed back by the borough council and a survey of the building revealed there were serious concerns about it.

It was closed and replaced by temporary changing facilities.

And this week demlitionn crews are on site raising the building to the ground.

A design competition for a new pavilion is currently under way, and the new building should go up in the new year.

The borough hopes that once the new pavilion is open, more sports will be attracted to the ground – which used to be home to cricket, bowls, and tennis as well as many football teams.