The severely earthquake damaged office building in central Wellington will not be demolished today.

Work dismantling the main structure of 61 Molesworth St was meant to start this morning, but gale force winds of up to 120km/h halted it.

The plan was to reassess this afternoon, and a Wellington City Council spokesman has just confirmed all work has been called off for the day.

Ceres demolition contractors have left the scene for the day.

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Work involving a giant demolition crane will begin again at 7.30am tomorrow, weather dependant.

The huge crane that was to demolish the building remains on site.

Council spokesman Clayton Anderson yesterday said the front of the tower block would be removed and smashed up to make space for the crane. That work was expected to finish yesterday.

The jaw-like machine would then be used to crunch down the main, nine-storey, building from the top.

Demolition of the Molesworth St building began on Thursday afternoon, with an attached smaller multi-storey building being pulled off first.

A digger with a hydraulic hammer attached to it could be seen drilling through the building, as the area was doused with water to control any asbestos particles in the area.