TWO people have been arrested after a foodbank was burgled – and bosses followed a trail of spilled washing powder to a house.

The break-in happened at Leigh and Atherton Foodbank, when thieves stole an estimated £1,300 of food that could have been used to feed 200 needy people.

They also damaged the locks on a storage container that must now be repaired.

Secretary Dave Hughes and manager Warren Done turned detective and followed a trail of washing powder to a nearby house where there they saw some of the foodbank’s crates being loaded into a car.

The food, which was stored in a container behind St John the Baptist Church in Market Place, Atherton, was stolen some time between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

The theft was discovered when the church caretaker from the church found food on the floor near the container and saw that the door was open when she arrived.

Mr Hughes said: “These thieves have taken this away from their own people. They are probably the type of people that we are there for and serve in emergencies.

“It may well be that we have helped these people in the past.

“It makes you wonder why they are so desperate for the money — and there have been a lot of break-ins in Atherton in the last two weeks by the sounds of it.

“This is a theft from local people, the people who have donated items as well as the people who are in crisis.”

The crates each contain about 25 kilos of food and, while the items were donated, Tesco have valued the food they donate at £1.33 per kilo in the past, according to Mr Hughes.

This means the total stolen from the church container could be worth as much as £1,330.

Mr Hughes estimated that the food stolen, which was an assortment of different goods, could have reached as many as 200 hungry people.

A police spokesman said: “We were called on Sunday morning to reports of a burglary.

“A 42-year-old man and 38-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of theft and bailed until March 10.”

Leigh and Atherton Foodbank operates out of three different centres, and is open at the container behind the church in Atherton on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1pm to 3pm.

Mr Hughes added: “Everybody around Atherton knows that the foodbank is located there because they see us going into the container with food.

“These people knew exactly what they were stealing.

“We are very fortunate that people in Leigh and Atherton have been so generous over Christmas, so we do have good stocks still at our main warehouse elsewhere.”

The foodbank supplies in the Atherton container were replenished on Wednesday afternoon.