Gaping holes today remain where jubilant Wolves fans celebrated Premier League survival less than a fortnight ago as the demolition of the Stan Cullis stand gathers pace.

Diggers were today pulling out the concrete seating area, exposing huge steel rafters running the full height of the North Bank and leaving piles of debris.

About half the concrete was dismantled by lunchtime, exposing the bowels of the stand  — stripped for bulldozers to move in ahead of a £16 million redevelopment.

Most of the roof has been ripped off by a huge mechanical claw arm, which made light work of the structure when it was deployed on Thursday. Machines moved to strip out the stand’s 5,200 seats the day after the final game of the season against Blackburn Rovers.

The match sparked memorable scenes  as fans saluted survival in the top-flight by a whisker. The single tier stand is being torn down to make way for a two-tier, 7,700-seater replacement.

The development will boost capacity from 29,408 to 31,700 and marks the beginning of a four-year £40m project, which may eventually see capacity increase to 50,000.

The new structure will be less than 20ft from the pitch — much closer than the current stand — and rise considerably higher.

The first tier of the new stand will be ready to seat an estimated 3,000 fans in uncovered areas by the middle of September, with the replacement up and in use in time for the 2012/13 season.

The initial step will cost £16m and will also include a new museum, shop, kiosks, bars, and dining rooms. Phase two of the development would see the Steve Bull stand demolished and rebuilt. The new stand would adjoin the with the gap between the north and east stands filled in during phase one. This would boost capacity to 36,000.

Phase three, which would involve ripping off the roof of the Jack Harris stand and installing a second tier, would add another 1,000-plus seats to what is fondly known as the South Bank. In the first phase of redevelopment capacity will fall to 23,995.

All work should be completed by the 2014/15 season, with an option to increase capacity to 50,000 in future.