A FIRE broke out this morning at Wong Wong bakery in Chinatown.

Fire fighters from Manchester Central, Salford, Philips Park and Hyde went out to the incident on St James Street near to its junction with Princess Street at 7.30am after a woman reported that smoke was coming into her flat. The woman said that she was in a flat above the bakery with a five-month-old baby.

A number of residents have since been led to safety and one of the major routes through the city centre is disrupted as a result of the fire.

Station Manager Ben Levy said: "It's a fire involving the storage area and bin compound at the back of a bakery which is in the ground floor of a four-storey building.

"The building is multi-use - there's a restaurant, the bakery and residential properties in the floors above.

"The fire is contained to the rear of the bakery and we've evacuated residents, leading them to safety, from the three floors above and we've gained access to further properties to check for people's safety.

"We've got four engines here and some specialist support in the Operational Support Unit from Hyde."

They are now working to establish the cause of the blaze. Parts of Princess Street remain closed.

Main image by @Kat_Brown_