ONE of the north's oldest town halls came within minutes of being destroyed by fire yesterday.

Had firefighters arrived at Middlesbrough's Victorian town hall moments after they did, they would have faced a 40ft wall of flame.

A 20ft-high curtain by a historic stained glass window in the building's main concert hall was well alight, and 20ft of varnished wooden panelling between the curtains and the vaulted ceiling above was starting to smoulder.

Fire brigade watch manager Alan Pierson said: "We were very, very lucky to get there so quick. It was down to a matter of minutes. It would not have taken a vast amount of time before we would have had a serious fire.

"We believe the cause was a halogen lamp which radiated heat onto a curtain. The flames had gone up the 20ft high curtain, up into the barrel vaulting of the ceiling, and the varnished wood between that and the roof was beginning to degrade."

The alarm was raised at about noon when a smoke detector went off.

Mr Pierson and other firefighters were carrying out home safety checks in streets near the hall when they were alerted.

Workers were carrying out general repairs and maintenance in the vicinity of the concert hall at the time of the fire. They were evacuated as the concert hall became heavily smoke-logged.

A council spokesman said: "The fire was dealt with quickly and effectively. There were around 30 people in either the main auditorium and the crypt area below it at the time, and all left the building immediately. No one was hurt. The main hall was smoke-logged.

"We are currently assessing the damage which, fortunately, appears to be confined to a relatively small part of the panelled ceiling and some paintwork.

"We cannot put a cost on the damage as yet. We cannot comment on the cause of the fire, but we would like to thank the fire brigade for their prompt and professional help."

A fashion show to raise money for Aids Awareness went ahead in the crypt last night.