The world's most famous car was born in Manchester

The centenary of Rolls-Royce took place at the Midland Hotel, the very spot in Manchester where the firm was founded.

Charles Rolls met Henry Royce at the hotel on 4 May 1904 to start the world famous company.

Outside the hotel two of the firm's classic cars a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Silver Ghost went on display along with a Rolls-Royce aero engine.

Hulme factory

The celebrations also included planting four trees on the company's original site in Hulme, Manchester.

Among the guests were Dr Michael Pritchard, the great-grandson of Henry Edmunds who introduced Rolls to Royce.

An Avro Lancaster aircraft also carried out an aerial salute..

A number of Rolls-Royce cars currently taking part in a centenary world tour arrived in Manchester to join in the celebrations.

Charles Rolls, an aristocrat, was a car and plane enthusiast who died at the age of 32 when he crashed while taking part in an airshow in Bournemouth.

Henry Royce, from a poorer family, became one of the world's great engineers and died aged 70 in 1933.

The empire they created later split into separate companies - one dealing with cars and the other concentrating on aero engine, industrial and marine work.