Most of the figures and theatrical props used in the Wallace and Gromit films were destroyed this morning in a fire at the warehouse in Bristol where they were stored.

Aardman Animations, the company that makes the films, said that its whole history was wiped out - all the props and sets from the company’s past: Morph the plasticine man, the much-loved Creature Comforts and Wallace and Gromit.

The roof and three interior walls collapsed during the blaze at the Victorian warehouse, near Temple Meads railway station in Bristol, adding to the devastation. The cause of the fire is not known.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the latest installment in the saga of the cheese-loving inventor and his long-suffering dog, has just been topped the box office charts in America. It opens in Britain on Friday.

Arthur Sheriff, the Aardman spokesman, said: "Today was supposed to be a day of celebration, with the news that Wallace and Gromit had gone in at No 1 at the US box office but instead our whole history has been wiped out.

"The early reports are that the whole building has been destroyed. For us, it held everything we had done since day one. Everything from Morph to Creature Comforts to Wallace and Gromit was there.

"It had all the film sets, the props, the models, everything. It was very important to us. We used it for tours and exhibitions. It really is a bit of tragedy. It’s turned out to be a terrible day."

But Nick Park, who created the characters, said that after the earthquake in Pakistan, the fire was "no big deal". He said: "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn’t a big deal."

A spokesman for the company said all the sets and models from the latest Wallace and Gromit film were safe and had not been archived in the warehouse.

But the sets from A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave are all thought to have been destroyed, along with those from Chicken Run - Aardman’s first feature-length release.

It is thought that no-one was inside when the fire broke out at 5.30am. Ten fire crews from across the region tackled the flames which at one point were 100ft high.

Surrounding roads remain sealed off, as crews remain at the scene pumping water from aerial platforms to ensure that the fire is completely out in the smoking, blackened ruins.

An Avon and Fire Rescue spokeswoman said that an investigation would only be possible once the building was made safe to enter.

The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit topped the US box office in its first weekend, taking $16.1 million (£9.1 million), compared with the thriller Flightplan, which was in second place with $10.8 million (£6.1 million), according to the entertainment magazine Variety.

The latest film is the first full-length feature involving Wallace and Gromit, and took five years to make, as each of the thousands of clay figurines was laboriously moved by hand.

Wallace has set up Anti-Pesto, a humane pest-control service, to protect allotments in the run up to the local annual Giant Vegetable Contest. But he and Gromit fall foul of the scheming suitor of the lady of the manor, and have to fight off a mutant vampire predator to ensure a happy ending.

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