A major milestone in the regeneration Canning Town’s Rathbone Market has been marked with the arrival of two mammoth tower cranes.

They will play a vital role lifting heavy equipment, supplies and materials around the 680,000 sq ft Barking Road site.

Contractors John Sisk and Son, who began work last December, have now completed piling and are ready to start working on the foundations and building frames.

The massive new machines were transported to the site under police escort before being assembled by a large mobile crane with a 1,000-tonne lifting capacity.

Nigel Warnes, director of major projects at Sisk, said: “Most of the work to date has been at ground level, but with the tower cranes up, progress on the foundations and concrete frame of the building will really start to gather pace. We’re pleased with progress so far and interest has been high with all the activity behind the scenes. Importantly for Canning Town the site is now employing even more local people than was originally expected.”

The first phase of the �180 million project is scheduled for completion in summer 2012 and will include 271 apartments in four high rise blocks.

A landmark 21-storey tower will follow later. The regeneration scheme is one of six across the UK being delivered by the English Cities Fund, a joint venture between Muse Developments, the Home and Communities Agency and Legal & General.

Richard Robinson, project director at Muse, said: “This major regeneration project will transform Canning Town, creating a vibrant and sustainable, mixed-use scheme for this historic market area of London.

“We’re delighted with the progress being made on site, with the cranes now up, the project is really starting to come alive”.