A BIG clean-up is under way at a North East rugby club after an electrical fire in their changing rooms.

Four changing rooms, plus the bath and shower areas, were badly damaged after the electric mains cupboard caught fire last night (Tuesday, January 20) at about 9pm.

Firefighters spent more than three hours tackling the blaze, which spread to the roof void at Redcar Rugby Club's Lincoln Road home.

Now, members and players have rallied round to get the building sorted out and back up and running.

Steward and bar manager Derek Young was one of several people in the club and squash courts last night when the power went out, alerting members that something was wrong.

They believe the fire could have been smouldering for up to half an hour before the alarm was raised.

He said: “Normally there would have been people in there on a Tuesday night, but we’d switched training to the college on Monday because of the state of the pitch.

"That meant no-one was in there to see it start and according to the fire brigade, it was burning for half an hour before it went up.

“As it was, we had no warning until the power went off.”

Five fire appliances attended the scene after the alarm was raised last night.

Paul Colling, watch manager at Redcar Fire Station, said: “It was quite an extensive fire, and it was quite difficult to tackle because it was in the roof.

“It was above the changing rooms and some other rooms.

“I would say that around one third of the roof was affected by fire, but we managed to contain it in one corner so that the fire did not spread anywhere else.

“There were people using rooms at the club and squash courts at the time the fire broke out, but the manager quickly sounded the fire alarm and evacuated the building. There were no injuries.

“We believe at the moment that the fire was accidental, and the likely cause was an electrical fault.”

The club will update its Facebook page to keep members informed about the repair work.

A statement on the club’s page said: “Thanks again for all your support people and if at all possible we will be calling for help en mass when the big clean and restoration is underway.”