A city centre restaurant which is being refurbished has been gutted by fire.

The blaze, at the Melting Pot restaurant, Vine Place, Sunderland, at 1.35am yesterday, broke out in a heap of old furniture and fittings that had been stripped out of the building. It spread to the next door pubs - the Jazz bar and the Tonic pub - which were both smoke damaged.

SEA TRAGEDY: A man whose body was found in the sea at the weekend had been reported missing from home the day before, it has emerged. Police yesterday named the man at 63-year-old Arthur Thompson, of Corfe Crescent, Billingham, Teesside. His body was found in the harbour at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, early on Saturday. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.

YOUTH IMPROVES: A teenager left badly hurt when he was hit by a car after running across the A19 on Friday, was in a slightly better condition last night. The 17-year-old, from Peterlee, County Durham, was among a group who tried to cross the road at 5.20pm, half a mile north of the Lowhills roundabout near Peterlee. He was rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital suffering from serious head, leg and internal injuries. Anyone with information is asked to call Durham Police accident unit on 0191-375 2159.

FILMS CASE: Magistrates have sent a man accused of making indecent films that included children to Teesside Crown Court. Nigel Berryman, 31, of Surbiton Road, Fairfield, Stockton, is facing 16 counts of the charge and will appear before the court on July 12. He was granted unconditional bail.

HOUSE FIRE: Firefighters were called to a blaze in a mid-terrace house in Front Street, Fence Houses, near Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, at 10.45am yesterday. The main bedroom was severely damaged by fire and the rest of the house was smoke and heat-damaged. The occupants escaped unhurt after being alerted by a neighbour who spotted the flames, but another neighbour was taken to hospital suffering from shock.

CASE ADJOURNED: A man facing 16 counts of making indecent images of children has had his case adjourned by Teesside Magistrates' Court. Gerald Pickering, 46, of Hastings Way, Billingham, who was granted conditional bail, is due in court on September 29.

WALL CRASH: Two people are recovering in hospital after their car crashed into a wall. Firefighters cut the pair from the wreckage of the Vauxhall Vectra, in Ellison Street, Jarrow, South Tyneside, on Saturday evening. A 22-year-old woman suffered head, arm and internal injuries and a man in his twenties suffered head and back injuries.