The ceiling of a mosque in Lidget Green caved in after it caught fire.

Fairweather Green firefighters were called to the blaze at 1.10pm today.

On arrival they found smoke coming out of the first floor windows and the roof at the front of the building in Northside Terrace.

The president of the Tabligh-Ul-Islam Mosque informed the crews he had discovered the fire in a prayer room upstairs after smelling smoke.

Bradford Station Commander Martin Day was leading the fire investigations.

From the scene of the blaze he said: "Two crews went in to fight the fire, but the conditions in there were so bad they had to use a thermal-image camera to find their way.

"When they had found the seat of the fire the crews begun to extinguish it, but they had to use fans to push out the smoke to assist them to locate the root.

"They could see a severe fire had developed in the corner of the room which they then extinguished and called for the fire investigation team to find out the cause."

Mr Day said the prayer room suffered from extensive fire damage and the rest of the building suffered smoke damage.

As to the cause of the fire he said: "At the moment we are just keeping an open mind.

"Unfortunately with buildings like this they are open to the public at all times, but we have no way of knowing the cause of the fire yet."

Police are calling for anybody with information to contact the Bradford North Helpdesk on (01274) 376259 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.