A THIEF made a clean getaway with £85,000 of soap powder - and now hauliers are appealing for people to 'bubble' the raiders.

The boxes of branded Bold, Daz, Ariel and Fairy washing powder were taken when the cheeky raider simply hitched up a trailer parked at Carnforth's Truckhaven in the early hours last Wednesday.

The yellow trailer, just three months old and with Currie European written on the side, is worth £25,000 with the 26 pallets of washing powder valued at £85,000.

The thieve drove a tractor unit into the Scotland Road site, hitched up the load and then slipped away with the soap.

"It was a routine procedure," says Carol Campbell of Dumfries-based trailer owners Currie European.

"It's something called a trunking run where a driver will travel from the South, park up and another tractor unit will hitch up the load and carry on the journey to its destination.

"That's a practice that happens all the time because the driver cannot drive such a distance because of his hours limitation.

"The trailer was only bought three months ago and cost around £25,000 so we would really like to get that back. It is a big loss for us.

"There will not be a shortage of washing powder - but this load would have ended up in Safeway and Morrison's stores across Scotland."

Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact them and DS Sean Carthy says: "This is a very expensive crime and I would ask people to come forward with information, no matter how trivial it may seem. At this moment in time we have no idea where the trailer is but we are following numerous lines of enquiry."

Police believe the offender entered the service station at 10.30pm in a blue Scania tractor unit with the registration Y36 UOS and obtained a parking ticket from the service reception.

He is described as white, about six feet two inches tall aged in his mid to late 30s. with a large build, a shaved head, a ruddy complexion and a distinctive Liverpool accent. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt and blue overall trousers.

Police can be contacted on 01524-63333 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555111.