INVESTIGATORS are still trying to determine what caused a major blaze that left part of a toy manufacturing company gutted.

The fire took hold at Simba Smoby Toys on Saturday morning, and at its height was being tackled by over 60 firefighters and 15 engines from across the district.

A fire crew remained on site for much of yesterday, dampening down the building to make sure the fire did not re-ignite.

The area that saw the worst of the fire, part of a storage building off Hall Lane, had almost entirely collapsed, and the road had been closed to traffic.

Police and fire investigation officers are still looking into the incident, and have yet to reveal a cause of the fire.

The building was empty when the fire started, at around 5am, and when fire crews arrived flames were seen rising out the building, creating thick black smoke that required firefighters to wear breathing apparatus.

There was no-one in the building at the time of the fire.

Residents of neighbouring houses were advised to keep their windows and doors closed because of the smoke, although no buildings had to be evacuated.

It was the second fire at the factory in five weeks. On Monday July 3 over 70 firefighters were called to the building to deal with a blaze in the warehouse.

The site makes products for Smoby, which is France’s largest toy manufacturer, and is the main UK subsidiary of the Simba Dickie Group.

It makes toys including children’s playhouses and slides.

Councillor Hassan Khan, (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) praised the fire service for how they handled the issue, and added: “The fire looked terrible. I was really shocked when I heard about it.

“Once the cause has been found, then the business will need our support. For something like this to happen twice in a month - it is a matter we definitely need to look at.

“We need to support the business and the residents of the area to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“It shows that when it comes to buildings like this you have to put extra care in to keep them safe.”

The Telegraph & Argus contacted Simba Smoby Toys for more details on how the fire would effect the business, but the group said it would not be making any comment on the incident.