Wallace and Gromit only worth £6000

Aardman's insurers have valued Wallace and Gromit at just £6000 after their destruction in a fire.

The company received their payout for last year's devastating fire this week, but were surprised at the compensation for the two Oscar-winning characters. Norwich Union paid out £4,000 for Wallace and £2,000 for Gromit.

Wallace was worth more because of his moving parts, facial expressions and clothes, meaning it takes longer to make a new one. The pie-making machine from Chicken Run was so complicated it was valued at £100,000. A total of more than £500,000 was received for all the damage.

Aardman's Kieron Argo spoke about the problems the blaze presented. "The work involved in making a Wallace model is very time-consuming for a small group of modelmakers," he explained. "This process takes several weeks and costs several thousands of pounds.

"The larger machine-type contraptions such as the Pie Machine from Chicken Run took several months to design and develop."