FIRE has severely damaged an empty house in the North-East over the weekend.

Emergency service crews were called to Harperley Gardens in Catchgate, near Stanley, in County Durham, at 7.20pm on Saturday evening.

Firefighters tackled the blaze in the house, which has destroyed the stairwell inside.

Neighbour David Nurse, 50, said: “I don’t know how it started. The first thing I k new was when there was a knock at the door and I was told to get out of the house because the flames were getting quite bad.

“I heard the stairs go and saw it was glowing inside.”

Another neighbour, Norman Laws, 72, said the previous tenant had only recently moved out.

He said: “It was just ablaze and there was lots of black smoke.”

No-one was hurt and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service spent half an hour fighting the fire before it was under control.

A spokesman said: “The house was severely damaged by fire.”

Police are investigating and anyone with information is asked to call the non-emergency number 101.