Police say they fired shots at an alleged armed robber as they chased him down a suburban street in Sydney's inner west, before he holed himself up in the Chinese consulate in a six-hour siege.

Officers were called to the Alfred Hotel on Missenden Road in Camperdown about 1.30am today, after staff reported being held up by men armed with a hammer and a gun.

Six-hour siege ... police officers look at a handgun on the ledge of a building inside the cordoned off area. Credit:Kate Geraghty

They arrested a 27-year-old man at the hotel, while police chased another man as he ran down Dunblane Street.

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