A FLAGSHIP North-East arts centre has been forced to close after being damaged by high winds.

Visitors to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts, in Gateshead, have been turned away since Monday when the roof of Riverside Building, the single-storey entrance foyer and coffee bar, lifted.

Workers have been on the roof weighing down the aluminium cladding with sandbags to stop it blowing away.

South Shore Road, which runs past the building, a former flour mill on the bank of the Tyne, has also been closed.

A spokeswoman for the venue said last night: "Due to adverse weather conditions, an element of the roof of the Riverside Building has lifted.

"As a precautionary measure, South Shore Road and Baltic are closed while remedial works are undertaken. Baltic hopes to re-open shortly."

She said that although the public were not being admitted, staff were still working at the Baltic, but declined to comment further.

One visitor said: "I went there to have a mosey at some of the exhibits, but I was stopped because they had cordoned off the area about 20ft to 30ft from the entrance.

"Workers were putting safety netting up on the roof."

The venue, which opened in July 2002, is hosting two exhibitions - a video installation on asylum, by Julian Rosefeldt, and Archigram, which showcases the work of 1960s avant-garde British architects.

The Baltic's finance chief Andrew Lovett is acting as its director following the suspension of Stephen Snoddy, in August, over an allegation of sexual assault in London.