Engineers will inspect the stability of a fire-gutted building opposite one of Newcastle ’s finest squares to decide its future.
The four-storey property, on the Cross Street end of Charlotte Square in the centre of the city, went up in flames just before 9am yesterday.
More than 55 firefighters with 11 fire engines were needed to get the blaze under control.
Businesses and people were evacuated as large plumes of smoke billowed from the building, which houses The Kard Bar Print Posters shop on the ground floor with flats above.
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Although nobody was believed to be injured, fire chiefs said they could not rule out people being trapped on the upper floors.
Charlotte Square was the first housing development around a garden square in Newcastle.
It was built by William Newton in 1770 and named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III.
Newton also built the Assembly Rooms and St Ann’s Church on City Road.
He modelled Charlotte Square on traditional garden squares in London, which were intended to house ‘respectable’ members of society.
The original designs featured a large rectangular garden surrounded by four paths and bordered by trees.
But this was reduced in size when Cross Street was widened in 1879 to accommodate trams.
In the Second World War an air raid shelter was built in the garden for people to use during bombing raids.
The building housing the Kard Bar is not listed and appears to date from the nineteenth century.
It is likely to be demolished if it is not structurally sound.
A spokesperson for Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said: “We will be bringing some structural engineers along to inspect the building.
“If it is stable we will commit crews inside.
“The future of the building will be decided after we have concluded our investigation.”
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