Demolition of the Cape Insulation factory in Washington, which made products from asbestos, is nearly complete – and ready to become part of a 40-acre brownfield site for housing and commerce.

For many years the factory was a source of income for families in the area, but it also left many suffering from the effects of inhaling deadly asbestos fibres.

Compensation claims for asbestos-related disease are still being processed.

People living on Teal Farm estate, who fought for eight years to rid the town of the eyesore factory, are jubilant that they can now see their campaign bear fruit.

Bryan Craggs, director of the Pattinson Partnership Residents' Association, said: "Everybody is delighted that the old factory has gone because now it is tangible –you can see something happening. Before it was all talk."

The Hellens Group is planning a multimillion-pound transformation of the land, and demolition contractors G O'Brien and Sons Ltd have been working on the site for the past few months.

Hellens, currently based in Colliery Lane, Hetton, is building a new headquarters and depot on the site, which has been sold to Barratt for housing.

The residents' association has another fight on its hands. It has applied to Sunderland Council for land opposite the Cape Insulation site, which is earmarked for a new concrete manufacturing plant, to be declared a village green.