The fate of a familiar and cherished part of Great Yarmouth's skyline has been decided by town hall officials.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council has approved plans by National Grid to refurbish the Grade II listed Victorian gasholder on Admiralty Road.

The company is planning to remove the tank of the vast, 14-column structure, one of only 19 listed in England, and refurbish its guide frame which has been part of the local skyline since 1884.

According to planning documents, the proposal will remove the least visible aspects of the gasholder from the site while retaining the frame.

The neighbouring 1960s gasholder has already been dismantled. 

Great Yarmouth Mercury: The 1960s gasholder, on Admiralty Road in Great Yarmouth, has already been dismantled.The 1960s gasholder, on Admiralty Road in Great Yarmouth, has already been dismantled. (Image: Liz Coates)

READ MORE: Great Yarmouth gas holder is safe from being dismantled

The plans had faced objections from the Victorian Society and Historic England which said it would cause substantial harm.

The Victorian Society said it was concerned about the proposed demolition of the tank, considering that "completeness" was one of the key aspects of the gasholder's architectural and historical significance

But planners disagreed and said the proposal would encourage the more positive, long-term regeneration of the site.

The elaborate Victorian holder is considered one of the finest in the country.

The Great Yarmouth Gasworks site was established on the corner of Southgates Road and Barrack Road and extended towards Admiralty Road in the mid-1880s.

Initially the gasworks featured two large holders - also known as gasometers - in the eastern part of the wider site and two further gasholders on a piece of land on the opposite corner of Barrack Road and Southgates Road.

The Great Yarmouth Gas Light and Coke Company was first established in 1824 to supply 150 new gas street lamps - the last of which was knocked down by a car and destroyed outside the Arc Cinema in 2005.

After 142 years the transition from coal gas to natural gas in the 1960s saw much of the plant demolished, the final two holders still operational into the early 1970s.