THICK smoke and flames could be seen pouring from a derelict former sports club as firefighters battled to control a blaze there.

The alarm was raised at 2pm yesterday that the former Civil Service Sports Club in Boroughbridge Road, York, was on fire.

More than 20 firefighters from York, Acomb and Huntington went to the blaze at the club, which closed in 2003.

Watch commander Carl Vinand, of Blue Watch, said the roof of the building had caught fire as well as other items which had been left in the building, meaning there was a very real danger that the structure could cave in.

He said: "It's why no one has gone in the building to fight the fire.

"What you have to remember is that it's a derelict building, so there's no point sending firefighters in because if it did collapse it would be a waste of lives.

"The problem with a roof fire is that if the roof collapses the whole building will collapse as it pushes the walls outwards."

Because of this firefighters aimed hoses through windows and doors at the ceiling of the building in an attempt to bring it under control.

Initially, only thick white and yellow smoke could be seen billowing out of the former club, but at one point the smoke turned black.

Mr Vinand said this was often a bad sign which meant the fire was getting hotter.

Problems were also caused by a lack of pressure from a water mains in Boroughbridge Road.

Fire engines were having to use a relay system to fill up with the 1,800 litres of water they can carry before returning to the blaze.

Mr Vinand said the entire water tank could be emptied in two minutes, but they were having to be conservative with it.

Later, firefighters attached a hose to a different water main. This was laid across the road so police officers were needed to control the traffic, causing slight delays for motorists.

The fire was eventually extinguished at 6.48pm. A fire brigade spokeswoman said they did not yet know the cause of the blaze, but the building has been targeted by vandals in the past.

Firefighters were due to return to the site today to investigate the scene and check the site for remaining hot spots.