Trowbridge will be hitting the big screen in cinemas around the world from today when animated film The Boxtrolls, which is based on a book set in a fictional version of the town, is released.

The film, which is voiced by Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, is based on Alan Snow’s 2005 story Here Be Monsters!, which saw the author and illustrator set the action in the fictional town of Ratbridge.

Mr Snow, who moved from London to Trowbridge in 1971 at the age of 12, said he used the town as his inspiration for Ratbridge because to him it appeared Dickensian, the era the tale is set in.

According to Mr Snow, there are a number of buildings in the story based on those in Trowbridge, including the town hall, which is referred to as Cheese Hall in the book.

Mr Snow, who now lives in Swindon, said: “The book is heavily influenced by Trow-bridge. There are quite a few buildings inspired by the town as I spent my teenage years there.

“When I moved down as a kid I found it a very interesting place as it was hugely industrialised, with things like woollen cloth production going on. It also had a very strange, almost Dickensian quality.

“The name came about because there are quite a few characters in the book that are rats and it’s mildly cheeky. The town also had a poor profile and was treated rather snobbishly by the other towns, but I always had a fondness for it.

“There is good and bad in all places, but I thought it was wonderful and had some fascinating characters.

“I found out about six years ago that the option had been taken to make it into a film, which is a very rare thing.”

The film, which tells the tale of a young boy’s adventure with a group of underground monsters called Boxtrolls, does include some changes from the book, with Ratbridge changed to Cheese-bridge.

Mr Snow added: “I haven’t seen the finished film, but it’s a lot like seeing your child off to sea on a long voyage and them coming back not quite the same, but enriched by the process. The film’s animators Laika have done an amazing job.”

The stop-motion animation film will be release in UK cinemas today.