Ratcliffe Power Station: Closure of one of the East Midlands' most recognisable landmarks

• Phil Brewster reports on the closure of the UK's last coal-fired power station with access inside the site

The clock is ticking for one of the East Midlands' most recognisable landmarks, with one worker describing the site as being in his blood.

Ratcliffe Power Station in Nottinghamshire - the UK's last coal-fired power station - will stop generating electricity in just three months' time.

With its eight giant cooling towers, it's been keeping the lights on across the region since 1967.

On September 30, the powers station will close for good, and the use of coal to produce electricity in this country will end.

In an interview with ITV News Central, electrical engineer John Roberts described the site as fantastic.

'It's in my blood...I bleed Ratcliffe'

He joined as an apprentice 44 years ago, and will retire when production stops in the autumn.

John said: "It's in my blood, you cut me out, I bleed Ratcliffe"

He added: "A bit of sadness, to me it's an adults Meccano Set. It's great, just fantastic. The grass is not greener anywhere else."

Construction work on the plant began in 1963. Four years later it was up and running.

It can power two million homes, and has the capacity to generate 2000 megawatts of electricity. Enough over its lifetime to make 21 trillion cups of tea.

For many of the staff, Ratcliffe has been their life.

Plant manager Peter O'Grady told ITV News Central: "I reflect back on when I started.

"80% or more of the UK's power was from coal-fired power stations like this. By the end of the year that will be zero.

"And we've kept the lights on. So for me that's something I'm really proud of."

Chris Bellaby joined the team straight out of university. While Angela Millward has seen a lot of changes in her 29 years on site. In an interview with ITV Central Angela said: "I started as a teenager fresh from college doing engineering. Worked through multiple different roles and activities.

"Met my husband here, had two children, one of which is also spending time here now. So it's definitely part of the family.

Chris said: Very sad to see it go. Some of the memories, some of the team mates, friends that we've made here, and hopefully friendships long-lasting.

"But we've got to look to the future, we're all proud of the role we've played so far. We're going to be proud right to the last day, but then we've got a role to put it to bed, decommission it safely, and get it ready for the future."

What will happen in September?

More than a 100 staff will stay on to decommission the plant. A process which will take two years.

Among them is Akhil Moonukandathil, he will help to decontaminate the site in preparation for whatever takes its place.Akhil says: "I'll be doing something very different to what I've been doing so far. So far I've been installing new things or mending things.

"But moving forward we'll be disconnecting, making it ready for a demolition contractor to eventually demolish this place."

What's next?The site owners are Uniper, a German multinational energy company. In an interview with ITV News Central, Uniper CEO Michael Lewis said: "We're looking at whether there could be green hydrogen production on this site for industry in the East Midlands.

"And one of the things hydrogen is particularly important for is seasonal storage, so that we can take excess production of renewables and turn it into flexible power when it's needed."Before then, the famous cooling towers - each 114 metres in height - will have to come tumbling down.

This is expected to happen some time around 2030.

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