FIRE crews battled for hours to bring a blaze which ripped through a derelict former children’s home in the early hours of Monday morning.
The fire destroyed two floors and the roof of St Peter’s, in Gainford, before firefighters could bring it under control.
The A67 was closed in both directions while firefighters from Darlington and Bishop Auckland tackled the blaze.
Gainford resident Debbie Atkinson rang emergency services immediately when she spotted the building on fire at around 11.30pm on Sunday, July 21. She said: “We can see St Peter’s from our house and my daughter had just put the dog out and said it was on fire. It was well ablaze then. We went straight down there as we wanted to see if the house next door was okay.”
Ms Atkinson added: “I’m not sorry it has gone because it has been an awful eyesore in the village for years. It was trouble for years. Everybody knew something like this was coming.” An investigation into the cause is underway.
