A CITY centre was brought to a standstill and hundreds of shoppers and workers were evacuated after an historic building began to collapse.

The Georgian building, in the centre of Newcastle's Grainger Town, will now have to be demolished after it was brought tumbling down.

Workers converting the former Trustee Savings Bank into a caf fled the three-storey building after it began to shake violently, chunks of masonry crashed into the street below and it seemed on the verge of collapse at midday yesterday.

One worker said: "The entire building began to shake violently and floors inside began to collapse.

"We got out of there as quickly as we could and called in the emergency services."

Six fire engines and police rushed to the scene and the entire Grainger Street area - at the heart of the city's business community - was evacuated. The Metro underground train system, which runs under the site, was also halted - bringing the city to a standstill.

A Newcastle City Council spokesman said: "Council officers are currently at the scene assessing the situation.

"However, they have not been able to get close enough to the building to assess the damage because of safety reasons.

"They are trying to get in touch with the owners of the property and arranging to have a structural engineer conduct a survey to ascertain what work needs to be carried out.

"Officers are making sure that before they go anywhere near the building there will be no further collapse.

"As far as we know, no one has been injured and the road will be closed until further notice."

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "An assessment is being made by structural engineers as to what to do with the building.

"We evacuated the area as a precaution to ensure the safety of everyone concerned."

No one was available for comment at Bradford-based construction firm Reidy and Sons.