Plans to demolish Birmingham’s Central Library and redevelop Paradise Circus have moved a step closer after the Government announced it would not block demolition of the library.

Heritage Minister John Penrose agreed to grant a Certificate of Immunity from listing the building, allowing the city council and development partners Argent a five-year breathing space to push forward with transforming the prominent eight acre site.

Mr Penrose’s decision would appear to spell the end for the library, designed in brutalist style by Birmingham architect John Madin, which has been the subject of controversy for more than 30 years.

Despite being likened by Prince Charles to a carbuncle and an incinerator more suitable for burning books, the Friends of the Central Library group fought a hard battle to have the building listed, arguing that redevelopment of Paradise Circus could still go ahead even if Mr Madin’s structure remained.

But Mr Penrose refused an appeal by the friends group and upheld a decision by former Labour Culture Minister Margaret Hodge that the library, although an interesting example of the architecture of its time, was not worth preserving.

Speaking from his retirement home near Southampton, Mr Madin said it would be a “big mistake” to demolish the library.

He added: “I am extremely disappointed and saddened. The council is intent on building a new library at a cost of £187 million when they already have a perfectly good library fit for the 21st century.

“They say that my library requires costly refurbishment, but they have allowed it to deteriorate through a shocking lack of maintenance.”