A WARBURTONS employee has been found guilty of stealing bread trays worth more than £500,000.

HGV driver Paul Rogers, aged 34, of Parkway, Rochdale, denied conspiracy to steal but is now due to be sentenced on April 11 after jurors returned a guilty verdict at about 4.15pm today.

His co-accused, Robert Cooper, aged 61, of Winchester Way, Breightmet, is still waiting to hear his fate after the jury failed to reach a decision today.

The jury had been deliberating since noon today.

Cooper and Rogers are accused of taking about 90,000 plastic bread baskets - valued by Warburtons at £562,000 - to be recycled at Darwen firm PM Plastics and pocketing the proceeds themselves.

The jury will resume their deliberations tomorrow.