Authorities are investigating a fire that broke out on Saturday evening at the derelict Thorney Close Inn, a former pub located on Thorndale Road in Sunderland. Emergency services, including four fire crews from Farringdon, Rainton Bridge, and Sunderland Central Community Fire Stations, responded to the incident at 8:02 PM. The blaze was successfully extinguished within an hour.

Northumbria Police and the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service are collaborating to determine the cause of the fire. Contact with the police for further information is ongoing.

The Thorney Close Inn, which had been the focus of a community campaign to preserve it, was sold after proposals to convert it into apartments for individuals with complex needs were abandoned earlier this year. The pub had long been considered a community asset.

In related news, a missing 23-year-old man, Ryan Young, last seen in the Archer Square area of Farringdon on Tuesday morning, has been located safely on the same evening, as confirmed by Northumbria Police.