A CITY centre street will remain closed for the foreseeable future after a Georgian building's partial collapse.

Building engineers are investigating whether the facade of the three-storey former Trustee Savings Bank, in Grainger Street, Newcastle, can be retained or will have to be demolished.

The wall is virtually all that remains of the Grade II listed building after it started to collapse on Friday during work to convert it into a bar.

Engineers and the Health and Safety Executive decided to pull down all but the facade because of the danger of it collapsing and damaging surrounding buildings.

Nearby shops, offices and the County Hotel were cleared and services on the Tyne and Wear Metro were suspended between Heworth and Monument because of the danger of vibration from the trains causing more damage.

Bill McKay, principal inspector with the Health and Safety Executive's construction division, said saving the facade was being investigated.

"There is still a big question mark. I don't think anybody would work near a building that high that was otherwise unsupported.

"The whole front facade is standing unsupported apart from the connections at either end of the building.

"We have advised that nobody goes close to it and it needs to be retained. It needs to be done remotely, in other words, by making up a structure and craning it into position to hold the wall up. That's a difficult job.''

Hugh McSherry, of Newcastle City Council, said: "There is still a danger, but we have made the building substantially safer and should prevent its collapse.''

Meanwhile, Newcastle council has said that the former bank may have to be re-built because it is a listed building.

Three builders and a foreman escaped when the collapse started. Nearby shops, offices and the County Hotel were all evacuated.

Grainger Street is cordoned off between Bigg Market and Westgate Road, although Metro trains are running again.

The building is in the heart of the city's Grainger Town, which is undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment.

The building was being converted into a bar and restaurant for the Sports Caf chain.