New drone pictures have revealed what will be demolished as the Royal Albion hotel fire enters its next stage.
Diggers, cranes and forklifts are lined up on Kings Road, ready to pull down the wreck of the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton.
Smoke continues to rise from the lower levels as "little pockets" smoulder in the basement of the hotel in its west wing.
But for firefighters to access these, the hotel must be torn down first. Equipment has been arriving since 10am on Monday from a Burgess Hill demolition firm and engineers have been studying the exterior of the 200 year old building.
A source close to the incident told The Argus that works to "flatten" the building "won't start today."
"There's still a lot to do in terms of checking the site is safe," they said.
Workers were photographed installing warning signs around the perimeter of the demolition site - along with warnings over falling objects inside the "drop zone".
Pictures captured from above show the scale of the damage inside the hotel, with entire rooms gutted and charred black - and the roof having entirely collapsed.
The fire raged for several days but was eventually brought under control during the early hours of Monday morning.
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "Our building control team is on site and contractors will begin the demolition of the damaged section of the building as soon as possible.
"We’re anticipating the demolition will take two to three weeks.
"The demolition is to help the fire service’s access to the site, as parts of the building are no longer structurally safe."
Pictures from the scene show sections of the building precariously held by bricks and doorways left crumbling.
Firefighters were cooling down the smouldering wreck using ladders and hoses.
The spokesman added: "UK Power Networks and Southern Gas networks are on scene to ensure that all electrical and gas are isolated and made safe prior to any work progressing.
"Asbestos is known to be in the textured ceiling coatings used in the building but there is unlikely to be any significant risk of exposure to asbestos following this fire.
"The area around the hotel has been cordoned off and our on-site contractor will continually assess the risk.
"Unfortunately, the properties directly behind the Albion Hotel will remain inaccessible due to the risk of falling debris during the demolition process.
"Anyone affected by this is able to contact our housing team for advice and support."
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