Jon Miles, the firm’s UK operations manager, hailed the effort of staff who fixed the problem and the “amazing technology” used to control plummeting temperatures.

He said: “We had staff and equipment there to fix the hole really quickly but the wind was just too strong. It was a logistical nightmare.

“My first thought when I saw the building from the A47 as I travelled from Rugby, near Coventry, was – how on earth are we going to save the stock?

“Our first worry was had anybody been hurt but then we needed to secure the area as it was potentially very dangerous. The whole incident was a freak of nature but the most important thing is nobody got injured.

“Our contingency plans had never been put to the test but they worked tremendously. We averted a total disaster because of the speedy response.

“I’m not entirely sure of the full financial implications but I thought we’d have been millions of pounds worse off than I believe we will be.

“The whole team in Wisbech, our partners at the site and all of our customers have been tremendous. We’ve had some great support, including staff who will work around the clock this weekend to help us catch up.”

Mr Miles said about 80 per cent of the 55,000 pallets in the freezer were saved. Tests will take place to see if the other 20 per cent can be used.

He estimated up to �60,000 worth of damage was caused to the building.

It will not be known for weeks how much money was lost from the millions of pounds worth of food that may have been ruined.