RAIDERS broke into the home of a pensioner and kicked the ashes of her late husband across her bedroom floor.

The thieves smashed a small kitchen window to get into Maria Berry's home in Breightmet.

And as well as stealing electrical equipment, cash and personal papers, they opened and overturned the container which stored her husband Jack's remains.

Mrs Berry has been left distraught by the lack of respect. She said: "Jack was a wonderful man. So much so that in the 11 years since he died, I've not so much as looked at another man."

Mrs Berry, aged 66, had been out for dinner with her daughter, Lynn Linora. When she arrived home at 11pm, she opened the door but found nothing amiss. As 42-year-old Lynn drove back to her house in Darcy Lever, Maria went into the kitchen and noticed the window was open.

In panic, she phoned Lynn, asking her to come back -- and it was then she realised her home had been raided.

The thieves had taken jewellery, £200, Maria's bank statements, pension book and passport, and a £200 vacuum cleaner.

But worst of all, she discovered her husband's ashes on the bedroom floor. Although the box they were in remained intact, some of the ashes were scattered.

Mrs Berry said: "I'm devastated. They would have known they were my husband's ashes because his name and the date he died was printed on the box. I haven't been able to eat or sleep properly since."

She said she has been too scared to go back into the bedroom since the burglary.

"I just feel that my privacy has been invaded and my peace of mind has been shattered," she said.

Jack, who worked as a miner, died of cancer in 1982. He was 52. They had been married for 17 years, and Jack was her second husband.