INVESTIGATORS looking for the cause of a fire that swept through a former North-East college say part of the building will have to be demolished because it is unsafe.

The gutted building had already been earmarked for demolition to make way for 144 new homes on the site.

Dozens of firefighters with specialist equipment tackled the blaze at the former Sunderland College campus in Shiney Row on Monday night.

The fire broke out at 6.30pm and could be seen for miles.

At the height of the blaze there were 35 firefighters at the scene with six appliances, an aerial ladder platform and the command unit in attendance.

The operation to bring the fire under control was complicated by the threat of asbestos in the ageing building and the fear that it could collapse at any moment.

The first floor of the left-wing of the two-storey building, which is a former administration block, was severely damaged by fire and the ground floor was severely damaged by heat and smoke.

Firefighters initially said they feared arsonists had struck at the site, but they were also looking into whether an electrical fault could be the cause.

A spokesman for the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said today (Wednesday, April 8): “There will not be any more investigation inside the building, because it is not safe to enter and it will need to be demolished.

“The cause of the fire has yet to be established.”

Karen Wade, director of facilities management at Sunderland College, said: “The campus has been vacant since last summer and thankfully nobody was hurt.

“The college will continue to seek a developer to take forward plans for the Shiney Row site.”