At about 07:30 local time (11:30 GMT), a wrecking machine smashed through the house to begin the demolition.

Castro, 53, a former school bus driver, was sentenced to life in prison last week after pleading guilty to dozens of rape, kidnapping and other charges.

He abducted Michelle Knight, 32, Amanda Berry, 27, and Gina DeJesus, 23, from Cleveland streets between 2002-04.

Authorities say he kept the women chained for long periods in the house, beating and starving them and forcing one of them to miscarry several pregnancies.

The women were freed in May after one of them escaped while Castro was out of the house and summoned help.

He was sentenced to life in prison plus 1,000 years on 1 August.

On Wednesday morning, Ms Knight spent several minutes in front of the house where she was held for 11 years as Castro's captive, a period she had described at his sentencing as "hell".

Then a crew of workers wearing high-visibility jackets tore the house down using heavy demolition kit, as neighbours and television crews looked on. Onlookers cheered.

Within minutes, the house was reduced to a pile of rubble.

Castro's neighbours in the working-class district of Cleveland had vowed to see the house demolished at the conclusion of the trial.