Apetito's factory building in Trowbridge will remain closed following a fire in a disused building yesterday in which eight fire engines were called but production in the main premises is unaffected.

An investigation is now underway by Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service to find the cause of the fire which caused Canal Road to be closed until 10pm last night.

Apetito confirmed the fire took place in an unused part of the production site.

Alarms were first raised around 2pm yesterday afternoon as thick black smoke was seen pouring from the back of the factory.

It is away from the main site and the business was not affected today.

At the height of the blaze, eight fire crews were mobilised to the scene – two from Trowbridge, two from Warminster, and one each from Bradford on Avon, Melksham, Westbury and Frome.

There were also two aerial appliances, from Bath and Swindon, an incident command vehicle from Devizes and a water carrier from Pewsey.

Paul Freeston, chief executive of apetito UK, has said: “We are very grateful for the extraordinary efforts of the Wiltshire Fire Brigade in ensuring that the fire was brought under control and that the damage to our buildings was minimised.”

All 60 members of staff who work at the production site were evacuated and there were no reports of any injuries.

Apetito have said that their fire evacuation procedure was described as “first class” by Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, “which was very positive to hear”.

The meals-on-wheels, care home and health care catering company hopes to hear the results of the investigation within 48 hours.