FIREFIGHTERS took just 25 minutes to put out a fire at a derelict building in Darlington.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were first called to the blaze in the commercial building on North Road at 9.30pm today (March 28).

Two crews from Darlington and one from Newton Aycliffe arrived at the scene near the Odeon cinema with the blaze extinguished by 9.55pm.

The service received a further 11 calls from concerned members of the public after the fire was first reported.

One woman who was passing the fire in a taxi said: "The smoke was horrendous coming out of the building.

"It was thick and black and was blowing across the road, it seemed quite dangerous.

"You could see the flames inside, I was worried in case there might have been youths there."

A spokeswoman for the fire service said the building was empty and derelict.

She also said there would be no investigation in to the fire at this time.