���˿���

Images taken by a Swiss-born photographer who was "charmed" by 1970s British street life are being exhibited after they were shared on social media.

Heidi Alexander found the "forgotten" snaps, which had been in storage for 40 years, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

She took the photos at Stockport Market on visits in 1976 and 1977.

The pictures will be shown at a free exhibition in the Stockport restaurant Where The Light Gets In from 23 April.

Ms Alexander, who was 21 when she took the photographs, moved with her American mother and four siblings to Scotland in 1969.

Now based in Edinburgh, she said: "I started snapping bits of a nomadic childhood with cheap plastic cameras given to me by my father, a busy motor racing photographer.

"My background is partly why I was drawn to take photos in the streets in the UK.

"It was all unfamiliar, almost exotic, and I was charmed."

She captured the moments of everyday Stockport life while visiting a friend in town when she was a student at Stirling University.

But she said the images were soon forgotten with the onset of motherhood and a full-time job in social work.

However, after finding the 35mm film negatives in April 2020, Ms Alexander started posting her photos on social media.

They attracted interest locally and eventually globally, featuring in the Guardian newspaper, before the idea for the exhibition in Stockport was born.

Why not follow ���˿��� North West on , and ? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk