A faulty fridge at the Ivy House Hotel is thought to have been responsible for an incident which closed off the centre of Marlborough on Friday morning.

The westbound side of the High Street was closed to traffic and the area round the entrance to the hotel was taped off during the alert.

It all began at around 8am when hotel manager Judy Cameron, who was supposed to be on holiday but had come in for a meeting, smelled a chemical smell coming from the laundry area.

She said: "It smelled a bit like ammonia and it was quite strong, so we called the plumber.

"He couldn't find anything, and suggested we called the fire brigade."

Mrs Cameron was astonished at the response. Within a few minutes of her call - at around 8.45am - police, fire and ambulance vehicles were outside the hotel.

While police officers stopped traffic entering the westbound side of the High Street, an ambulance arrived outside the hotel, rapidly followed by fire crews from Marlborough, Pewsey, Ramsbury and Swindon with a chemical and environment protection incident unit from Warminster.

Mrs Cameron and her colleagues were checked by paramedics for any ill effects from inhaling the unknown contaminant.

She said: "I feel fine but they have to check you over. They are doing exactly the right thing in responding like this. You can't be too careful when there's chemicals involved."

Head chef Steven Durrant-Rees, like his colleagues from the kitchen, was evacuated in just his chef's whites and had to call his wife to bring along warm clothing while he waited for the all clear.

He said: "We have a funeral party coming in at noon. It will be terrible if there's no food for them."

Officers wearing gas-tight suits investigated the scene to begin with and pinpointed the leak to an old fridge in the hotel.

Then other fire officers, wearing ordinary white incident suits and breathing apparatus, entered the hotel to make the fridge safe.

Incident commander Gary Heap from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Once the fridge is bagged up it will be the responsibility of the owners.

"We still don't know exactly what chemical was involved, but as it is an old fridge, ammonia seems likely.

"I am very pleased with the way this morning's operation has gone. It may seem that there are a lot of people standing around, but they need to be on the scene for when they are required."

No one was hurt in the incident.