Bulldozers close in on former Blockbuster Video as Burger King and shops demolished

To many, it was the relic of glorious childhood memories, from a time when we were urged to 'be kind, rewind'. To some, it was the scene of criminal opportunity, where a tunnel was dug twice in five years to steal cash from a once-booming business.

And for others, it was simply an eyesore, having stood sad and empty for a decade. Now, the building which was once home to Blockbuster Video in Fallowfield is coming down.

Demolition is taking place on part of Fallowfield Retail Park, including the former Blockbuster shop, the vacant former Burger King, Pizza Hut Delivery, Jollyes pet food and Barnardo's children's charity shop.

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Planning permission for a new Lidl supermarket in their place was granted in 2022. The old Blockbuster shop had boarded-up windows daubed in graffiti before it bulldozers moved in.

The main 'Blockbuster Video' sign was long gone, but an advert for Blockbuster Games could still be seen in one window, while the old 'Quick Drop' letterbox to return cassettes and discs remained. In a time before Netflix and its streaming rivals, Blockbuster was bustling.

It still had 264 stores in the UK and a 2,000-strong workforce when the company fell into administration for a second time in November 2013. The company couldn't be rescued, and Greater Manchester stores closed their doors the following month.

In Fallowfield, 14 jobs were lost. The store had been reeling from an audacious underground raid that took place on January 2, 2012, by a group of thieves branded 'the mole gang'.

The Manchester Evening News reported how it was believed the crooks took six months to dig a 100ft tunnel, from a nearby railway embankment to the