Major blaze at disused chapel near Middleton-in-Teesdale (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Five fire crews tackle chapel blaze near Selset quarry on B6276 Middleton to Brough road

7:52am Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News By Andrew Douglas, Deputy News Editor

Five fire crews were called to tackle a major blaze at a chapel in Teesdale, County Durham.

A report of a building on fire was received at 5am this morning near Selset quarry on the B6276  Middleton-in-Teesdale to Brough road.

Initial reports described it as "well alight" and at its height, up to 30 firefighters were fighting the blaze.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said the blaze involved a disused chapel and attached residential property. 

Much of the roadside building - known as Plantation End - has been gutted and the B6276 is closed as a result. It is not expected to re-open until this afternoon.

It is understood that the chapel has been disused since the early 1990's.

Fire crews from Middleton-in-Teesdale, Barnard Castle, Stanhope and Bishop Auckland were called to the incident, together with a command support unit from Newton Aycliffe, the enviornmental protection unit and the aerial platform ladder from Darlington.