A fire which broke out in Manchester’s Jewish Cultural Centre minutes before Shabbat forced synagogues to find alternative premises last Friday evening.

Strip-lighting ignited at around 4pm at the Machon Levi Yitzchok Chabad synagogue at the four-storey centre in Prestwich.

Two firemen with breathing apparatus swiftly extinguished the blaze, which started near the synagogue’s ark. No one was injured but there was some smoke damage.

Other congregations with synagogues inside the centre returned for services on Shabbat morning after the building was declared safe by fire officers. The building also houses the offices of the Manchester Beth Din, which were undamaged.