Coleman and Company managing director Mark Coleman said spectators could be engulfed by a dust cloud.

He told the BBC: “If you have literally thousands of people standing there watching it, you get engulfed by this dust cloud, you literally can’t see the person next to you.

“Your eyes are filled with grit, you have difficulty breathing and this is of course why we want to try and deter the public from attending.”

The demolition will be streamed online in the early hours of July 27.

Guy Esnouf, NPower’s director of communications, said: “We have 180kg of high explosives. That is an awful lot and you clearly don’t want people and explosives near together. Safety has to come first.”