PRE-SCHOOL children were evacuated from a play centre after fire broke out in a kitchen.

Staff at Waggon Road Play Centre, in Breightmet, managed to get about 10 children to safety after fire alarms were triggered by the blaze.

Firefighters were called to the premises just before 10am this morning.

The watch manager at Bolton North fire station said the fire was believed to have been caused when a cleaner accidentally turned a cooker hob on.

Cakes in plastic wrapping were on top of the hob and caught fire, leading to damage to the cooker and extractor fan.

There was also smoke damage to the kitchen.

The watch manager said staff had closed : "The staff were shaken up, as anybody would be in a fire situation and to my mind, if I had been looking after young kids, I would've been pretty shaken up, too.

"The kids seemed fine, they were taken well out of the way to their evacuation point. We managed to extinguish the fire without using a great deal of water and kept damage to a minimum."

He also praised the staff for getting the children out quickly and shutting the doors to contain the fire.

He added: "We managed to extinguish the fire without using a great deal of water and kept damage to a minimum."

Fire fire engines attended the incident and the fire took about 45 minutes to put out.