AN ASBESTOS-ridden university building will be pulled down and replaced by a new state-of-the-art site for life scientists.

Oxford University has announced it will knock down the now empty Tinbergen building on the junction of St Cross Road and South Parks Road after asbestos has been removed.

The building had to be closed in early 2017 due to the discovery of the poisonous material throughout the structure and in inaccessible areas.

In what is expected to be the largest building project the university has ever undertaken, the new, world-class centre will house the Departments of Experimental Psychology, Plant Sciences and Zoology.

It will feature research and teaching laboratories, lecture theatres, administrative accommodation, specialised support laboratories and public spaces.

Preliminary discussions are being held with Oxford City Council and will continue during 2019, at which point the public will be given a chance to have their say.

Work has now begun on the site to safely remove all asbestos using highly specialist contractors, prior to demolition, alongside the development of plans for the new building.

Hundreds of staff, students and animals were forced to leave the building in February 2017 and the departments are likely to remain in temporary homes until 2022.