THIEVES took around £400 worth of items from a foodbank after forcing their way into a garage.

On Wednesday evening officers were called to the Trinity Church Foodbank in Radcliffe following reports of a break in at approximately 10.30pm.

Soon afterwards a man was arrested and a second male was identified by the police in relation to the incident.

Volunteers at the foodbank had recently bought £600 of items in preparation for Christmas.

The stock was kept at a garage which is next to the Trinity Baptist Church.

Tina Harrison, one of the co-ordinators, said:"We got a call at about 10.30pm last night to say that the building where we keep our stock has been broken into.

"The police were on the scene within minutes as they were already on the estate and a neighbour a called them.

"My husband and another volunteer went down to secure the site.

"Within half an hour of putting the post on Facebook the police had apprehended somebody.

"We managed to recover 5per cent of the stock. Obviously the volunteers this morning were very upset about it."

Fortunately, the foodbank has received a huge amount of support from local people and businesses.

Tina added:"But we've been overwhelmed with offers, we're not going to give up.

"People have been in touch with kind offers to restock our supplies, as well as offers from local supermarkets.

"The resilience of the people of Radcliffe is incredible, everyone is very generous.

"It's just devastating really, if they'd needed support from the foodbank we would have helped them.

"The day before we had been to the cash and carry and had spent £600 on items for the foodbank.

"We estimate that they took around £400 of stock. We had stocked up with Christmas coming round the corner.

"Each week we deliver 118 parcels, and some of these are took large families in need.

"The council has offered their support as well and across Bury foodbanks have stuck together through the covid crisis to support each other."

Greater Manchester Police said: "At around 10.30pm on the evening of Wednesday December 2 the Radcliffe Area team responded to a burglary at the Trinity Church Food Bank, located at Trinity Baptist Church , on Westminster Avenue, which supplies the vulnerable people of Radcliffe with food at these desperate times.

"Police have conducted a large scale area search trying to locate the offenders and followed up on excellent intelligence provided from members of the community.

"As a result of this action one male was arrested a short time after and we have identified a second who can be expecting a heavy knock at the door shortly.

"We are urging anyone with information to come forward and call 101 or crime stoppers quoting log number 2964-02122020."