'Wallace and Gromit' creators were left reeling after a warehouse blaze wiped out the characters' "whole history" - but the plasticine inventor and dog are safe. The fire - thought to be an arson attack - ripped through the store room yesterday (Oct. 10) and destroyed nearly 30 years of sets, scripts and storyboards.

Familiar sets from Oscar-winning hits 'The Wrong Trousers' and 'A Close Shave' and models like the duo riding in a bike and sidecar perished. Many feared the entire cast of characters had melted in the blaze until creator Nick Park revealed Wallace and Gromit had survived in his briefcase. The relieved 46-year-old - who had been using the models to promote their new movie 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' - showed off the lucky escapees in a photo shoot after the fire.

He told Britain's the Sun newspaper: "These are the Wallace and Gromit from the film. They have been going with me on a world tour. I keep them safe in a special suitcase. They were with me at my house when the fire happened." The blaze - which also claimed casualties like Shorn the Sheep and characters from 'Chicken Run' - tore through the UK warehouse as excited staff got ready to celebrate the new movie taking more than $16 million in the US in its opening weekend.

A spokesman said: "Instead of celebration our whole history has been wiped out. This stuff is absolutely irreplaceable."