Workers began demolition on Saturday 9 December 1979. Newspaper reports indicate that seven or eight young men demolished the interior with sledge hammers, axes and chain saws. Plaster on the walls was broken up, the royal boxes destroyed, and seats either kicked in or thrown from the upper windows to the ground. The plaster decoration around the screen was destroyed although the ceiling remained intact on Monday 11 December. The University Senate stated that the trustees' architects had been on site to ensure that any items required for the redevelopment were retained. Some of the interior fittings were salvaged for local cinemas such as the Majestic Theatre at Pomona. The "Save the Regent" organisation complained to the Labour Relations Minister over the demolition and for breaches of the Construction Safety Act 1971, for which a prosecution was initiated in December 1979.