A fierce blaze at the warehouse of the animation company behind the Wallace and Gromit films has destroyed "the entire history" of the much-loved film-makers.

The roof of the Aardman Animations building in Silverthorne Lane, near Temple Meads station in Bristol, collapsed after fire tore through the Victorian building early today.

A spokesman for Aardman said the building housed all the props and sets from the company's history, which has scored a string of successes with its trademark "clay-mation" and gentle humour, beginning with the Morph cartoons on the BBC and going on to huge international success with Nick Park's Creature Comforts, the movie Chicken Run and the Wallace and Gromit films.

Today should have been one of jubilation for the Bristol company, following a hugely successful opening weekend at the international box office for the first full-length Wallace and Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Aardman spokesman Arthur Sheriff said: "Today was supposed to be a day of celebration, with the news that Wallace and Gromit had gone in at number one 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."

Nobody was in the building when the fire broke out. The area has been sealed off and crews are expected to remain at the scene for the rest of the day.

At lunchtime officers were still working to bring the fire under under control. Investigators have not yet been able to gain access to the premises to establish the cause of the blaze.