New photos show progress on the demolition of the old Honda factory in South Marston.

Excavators began tearing down the large manufacturing plant at the start of March and now, as April arrives, little is left of the site that employed 3,500 staff and produced countless cars over the course of nearly four decades.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the £900 million Panattoni-managed development that will be built on that spot occurred as the former factory loomed in the background.

At this end of an era, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited the area to praise Panattoni's enormous investment, which will involve the construction of 11 warehouses, a project that could create up to 7,000 jobs and 5,000 “spin-off” jobs.

When completed in five years' time, the new site will offer a total of 7.2m square feet of covered space, and have open access through it in contrast to the fences that characterised it when used by Honda.

More than 90 per cent of the material used in the fabric of the factory would be recycled.