A FACTORY in Blaenavon is set to be demolished after being severely damaged by a fire.

40 firefighters from the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spent four hours tackling the blaze at Abergavenny Fine Foods on the Gilchrist Thomas Industrial Estate on July 5.

This week, the firm’s managing director, Melanie Bowman, has confirmed that the building is to be demolished after fire rendered it impossible to access.

She said: “Once the damage was fully assessed, it was recommended, and subsequently agreed with our insurers, that the unit would need to be demolished and rebuilt.”

The rebuild is expected to take several months, and the company is currently in discussions with contractors and relevant authorities regarding this.

She added that the company’s production was affected by the fire and impacted on their ability to meet some orders.

Ms Bowman said: “We have been able to identify alternative food grade and British Retail Consortium-accredited premises, and have utilised our factory at Castle Meadows Park, Merthyr Road, Abergavenny, to enable the production of dairy lines shortly.

“We are also working with our long-term external warehousing partner to pack and dispatch from their Cardiff location, and we will be using other production partners to ensure that our customer commitments are fulfilled.”

The Abergavenny Creamery milk processing unit has been unaffected and office and sales staff from the Blaenavon site have been relocated to the Abergavenny premises.

She added: “As you can imagine, the past three weeks have been incredibly difficult for the company and its staff.

“I would like to put on record my thanks to the Abergavenny Fine Foods staff for their commitment and determination to bring operations at the company back to normal.”

She also thanked their customers for their co-operation, as well as their insurers, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, local authorities, the food manufacturing sector, and the local community, for their “incredible support”.

She said: “We will not let this fire deter us from our strategy to grow Abergavenny Fine Foods even further in the future.”

Abergavenny Fine Foods has ambitious plans and recently invested £1.2 million in a new dairy to increase its capacity.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

The blaze was reported at 3.56am and as the premises were unoccupied, no one was hurt.