cupboard heater

[aaronbh15]

Hi we have bought an old council house which used to have a big cupboard heater and various vents.

The cupboard is empty as the house has gas central heating fitted.
I wanted to remove the cupboard to make the lounge bigger but on the floor of the cupboard is a pipe im guessing gas? And a large brick fixed to the ground I was worried it could be asbestos so havent touched it. Is it likely to be that or am I worrying for no reason and would the pipe also be gas?
The pic of the brick is below. Any help or advice would be great.

 

[45yearsagasman]

Not easy to make out what the material is from the pic. That cupboard was probably used for a old convection type warm air unit. Husqvarna among others used to make them. As for the gas pipe, it may be live and the only way is to get it verified by a gassafe engineer.