West Ham’s London Stadium seats lie dumped in industrial yard after being pulled out to allow for World Athletics Championship

THOUSANDS of seats normally used by West Ham lie dumped in a yard having been pulled up to make way for the World Athletics Championships.

When the Hammers play their Premier League matches in the London Stadium they have seating covering the majority of the running track.

But to get the arena ready for London 2017, stadium owners needed to strip out thousands of seats to accommodate the equipment needed to stage the major athletics meeting.

And they now lie exposed to the elements in two industrial yards tucked away behind the Pudding Mill Lane Docklands Light Railway station.

West Ham have been given permission to play their first three Premier League matches of the season away from home because of the World Championships.

Work will begin turning the London Stadium back into football mode immediately after the athletics comes to an end on August 13.

Specialists then face the huge task of inching the semi-retractable blocks of seating back into a more advanced position closer to the pitch.

All West Ham signage has also been removed to comply with IAAF regulations, and that will also need to be re-installed.

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Urgent work will also need to be carried out by the groundsmen to repair the grass surface damaged by having javelins, discuss and hammers dropping down into it.

West Ham face away matches against Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle in their first three matches while the work is carried out.

But everything will need to be back in place by the time Huddersfield visit the London Stadium on Monday 11 September.

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