Preparation for the demolition of historic Albert Row near the entrance to Dockyard has started.

A spokesman for the West End Development Corporation, the owners, said: “The work taking place is the removal of asbestos in preparation for the eventual demolition of Albert Row.”

Albert Row, on Malabar Road, Ireland Island, Sandys, housed tradesmen when the Dockyard was a major industrial complex that supported Royal Navy operations in the region.

The building was erected in the 1840s and was Grade 2-listed in 2000 for “special interest and architectural and historical value”.

But the last residents of the building moved out in 2014 and, after years of debate about the future of the buildings, Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, removed it from the list of protected buildings in September.