SKATEBOARDERS have been warned to steer clear of a potentially dangerous building which has proved a magnet for teenagers taking up the craze.

Police are concerned that young skateboarders converging on the former Northern Electric premises, overlooking the River Wear in Durham, may be risking serious injury.

The site, in Framwelgate Waterside, has remained vacant and boarded up in recent months, although it is to be developed by a hotel chain.

Word has spread among the skateboarding fraternity, many who have used the site, nicknamed "the warehouse", as a makeshift skate park.

Dozens of youths have been seen at the site at times and police fear it is almost inevitable that someone will be seriously injured.

Sergeant Kelvin Vincent said: "There are bits of wall and ceiling coming down everywhere and there is glass all over the place.

"Last weekend, when I went, there must have been at least 30 youngsters inside.

"The problem is a long-standing one, but more recently the building has started to attract an increasing number of young people as word gets around.

"We fear someone could get seriously hurt and we are urging parents to educate their children not to play in such a dangerous place."

He said: "We don't like spoiling anyone's enjoyment and we know facilities in the area are limited for activities such as skateboarding.

"However, using this derelict site is not the answer."

Police believe youngsters aged ten and upwards, learning of the "warehouse" by word-of-mouth from other skateboarders, are heading into Durham from surrounding villages.

Owners of the building put up hoardings and shutters to try to block access, but they have been dismantled by skateboarders, and some bikers, determined to get inside.

Police are now advising the owners what additional security measures can be taken.

Closegate Hotel Developments, of Newcastle, was granted planning approval in the autumn of 2000 to build a £30m four-star hotel on the site, to be run by the SAS Radisson group.