POLICE have been given the "thumbs up" from a plastics company after officers smashed a lucrative works scam.

Two employees of plastics manufacturers Thumbs Up in Dumers Lane, Bury, have been arrested and bailed pending follow-up investigations after £4,000 worth of household products were recovered from two homes in the borough.

The man and woman have been suspended from work and are likely to face the sack if the case against them is proven.

Officers from the Whitefield Township struck early on Tuesday morning at two homes in Croftleigh Close, Whitefield, and Westcombe Drive, Bury, after the female employee was arrested as a result of a random stop search. The 35-year-old's car was full of suspected stolen products, including food boxes, mop buckets and storage containers.

PC Rick Pendlebury said: "After seizing stolen property from the woman's car we visited her home address in Whitefield and the home of a 35-year-old man in Bury.

"More plastic products, with a retail value of £4,000, were recovered from both properties."

Police and senior staff from Thumbs Up spent most of Tuesday afternoon sifting through the recovered goods before they were returned to the company.

Mr Kelvin Davies, company secretary, said: "The couple who have been arrested are both employees.

"This scam would not have come to light if not for the superb efforts of the police and we can only thank them for bringing this matter to our attention."

The staff members are expected to be charged over the theft on Monday.

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