MORE than 30 military firefighters were called into action in the region to bring a nightclub blaze under control.

The fire, at Oscar's nightclub in Stockton High Street, was fought using four Green Goddesses, two RAF breathing apparatus rescue teams and the regional equipment support team.

The building was reported to be on fire at 10.30pm on Sunday and crews were at the club all night.

A Green Goddess was still there last night as an assessment was carried out to determine whether the building should be demolished.

It was also being continuously dampened in an effort to stop pockets of hot embers in the roof setting alight. The nightclub was unoccupied and had been closed since Friday.

An Army spokesman said: "The aim was to prevent the fire spreading to an adjacent three-storey building.

"The fire was gradually brought under control from the outside, with the firemen making use of both ground and airborne thermal-imaging cameras.

"The crews worked extremely hard."

Senior aircraftsman Stuwart Philp said: "I was glad of the chance to go into a building for real, as we have responded to a number of hoaxes recently."