Dramatic drone footage has been released showing the scale of a fire in an industrial estate at the weekend that saw more than 50 firefighters battling the blaze.

At around half past midnight on Saturday evening Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) received a call from the public about a fire at a premises on Bede Industrial Estate.

The Service’s Fire Control immediately deployed crews with the first firefighters on scene in a matter of minutes to begin tackling the fire.

With the fire covering an area bigger than 10,000 square metres, a total of 10 appliances were sent to the area to help bring the incident under control.

At its height, 52 firefighters were involved in the operation with two Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP) vehicles and a drone unit also utilised in the response.

Crews battled the fire through the early hours but the fire has since been extinguished and TWFRS have now released dramatic drone footage showing the scale of the fire.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Lynsey McVay, who attended the scene, says they will now support the Northumbria Police investigation with officers treating the fire as arson.

She said: “This was a significant fire, with more than 50 firefighters at the scene, but our crews did a fantastic job and it was contained very quickly before being extinguished.

“The drone footage we have released today shows the scale of this particular fire and I again want to thank everyone involved in the response, and our partners who supported the operation.

“We have had a number of large incidents in recent weeks and I want to reiterate it is not just the crews on the scene who have done so well, there is also a large team that sits behind them and they have dealt with the incidents amazingly well.

“Our fire investigators will support the police with their investigation and I want to thank them for their support over the weekend, and all our partners involved in this operation.”

An investigation into the circumstances around the fire has been launched by Northumbria Police with a cordon remains in place at the site on the Bede Industrial Estate.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “An investigation is ongoing following a fire at a premises on Bede Industrial Estate in the early hours of Sunday (July 2).

“Officers are currently treating the cause of the fire as suspected arson.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact police via the ‘Tell us Something’ page of our website or by calling 101 quoting log NP-20230702-0044.”

At this time nobody is unaccounted for and there is no evidence to suggest that anybody was in the building during the fire itself.