TWO people have been arrested following a fire which ripped through a former bingo hall, destroying parts of the roof.

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) said it was called to The Green, Southwick, Sunderland at around 5.30pm on Friday to reports of a blaze. The building is home to the community link furniture store.

Northumbria Police were also in attendance and said surrounding roads were closed to allow emergency services to respond to the incident in the furniture storage building.

At the height of the the blaze more than 50 firefighters were tackling the flames in what is believed to be a former bingo hall.

Measuring 80 metres by 40 metres, the "entire building is on fire", a spokesman for TWFRS said. He confirmed that parts of the building's roof had collapsed "inwards".

He said there had been no rescues or reports of injuries and that the cause of the fire is yet to be established.

At around 9.30pm TWFRS said ten appliances and more than 40 firefighters were still engaged in extinguishing the fire.

At 10.30pm they tweeted: "The #Southwick fire is ongoing and has been scaled down to 6 firefighting appliances."

On Saturday, police said they had made arrests in connection with the fire.

"Officers have today arrested a man and woman on suspicion of arson," they said.

"They are in currently in custody and helping with enquiries.

"There are officers in the area this morning speaking to local people and the fire services are working with the local authority to make the building safe.

"Roads around the building remain cordoned off at this time as a safety precaution.

"Enquiries remain ongoing into the fire and anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101 reference number 864 02/2/17"