An investigation is under way into the cause of a major blaze which tore through a multi-million pound meat slicing business in Cleckheaton.

Firefighters spent more than four hours battling to save the Forza plant at the West 26 Industrial Estate in Hanging Wood Way.

The fire started in a loading bay inside the factory before spreading to the roof at about 2.30am on Saturday.

At its height, flames could be seen 30ft above the single-story factory.

Fire crews were scrambled to the industrial estate, which is near the Chain Bar roundabout on the M606.

In total, about 40 firefighters battled through the night to bring the blaze under control.

A spokesman for Cleckheaton fire station said a third of the building had been destroyed in the blaze.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

“There was the danger of liquid nitrogen containers near the building but the fire was brought under control.”

Max Hilliard, chief executive of the business, which has a turnover of £150m, praised the fire crews for saving most of the factory.

Speaking from outside a temporary base at the Hunsworth pub on Saturday, Mr Hilliard said he did not know the full extent of the damage.

He said: “The fire service have done a fantastic job and saved the majority of the building.”

Some of the factory’s 600 workers turned up to work on Saturday following the blaze but had to be turned away by security guards.

Mr Hilliard said: “It is obvious that they were not going to be working over the weekend and we have been making sure the site stays as uncongested as possible so that the fire service can do their job.

“We don’t know how the fire started but it is under investigation.”

Firefighters revisited the site throughout Saturday night to make sure the fire did not worsen.

The building’s owners returned yesterday[sun] with structural engineers to survey the damage.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.