FRIENDS spoke yesterday of their relief after surviving a shock ceiling collapse while enjoying a leisurely game of pool.

The quartet were playing on tables at one end of a first-floor snooker club, when, without warning, a section of the floor above caved in.

Players beneath dived for cover under tables as debris from a ten by eight metre section of the overhead mezzanine floor, used for storage, rained down on them.

Three customers who escaped the two-storey building, on Durham Road, Low Fell, Gateshead, were treated for minor injuries and bruising.

Despite initial fears that other players may have been trapped, the all-clear was given following a search by firefighters using thermal image equipment.

The building, housing Gateshead Snooker Centre on the first floor and the Peak Body Gym and Fitness Centre below, was closed by building inspectors and local authority health and safety officers.

None of the players involved were allowed back onto the taped-off premises to collect belongings over the weekend while a structural assessment began.

David Emslie and Chris Chaney were watching friends Ben Hume and Johnny Mayer playing pool when the drama took place at 8.45pm on Friday.

The quartet, all in their 20s and who live locally, got together over a few drinks yesterday to recount their experience.

Mr Emslie said: "I was just watching two of them playing at the pool end of the hall, when suddenly, like slow motion, the roof caved in.

"One of the lads, Ben, was sort of staring at the headlights, and one of the others just pushed him out of the way to avoid some of the falling debris.

"People were covered in rubble, but they all seemed to get out okay, but it was the most unimaginable thing.

"It was like a huge thunderstorm, just bizarre, the last thing you expect when you're having a quiet game of pool," he said.

It is believed that about 50 people were in the building at the time.

No one was available for comment at the snooker centre, which remained closed last night, but Northumbria Police confirmed only one person suffered bruising and two others received treatment for shock in the incident