Two arrested over cheese heist

Two people have been arrested in relation to a cheese heist in Manawatu this morning and police are investigating further possible thefts from the train that was robbed.

The arrests came after a rail worker spotted people acting suspiciously on a track near Halcombe, northwest of Palmerston North, about 7am.

They drove away in a car throwing blocks of cheese out the window as they went, but were stopped by police soon afterwards.

Eight 20kg blocks were recovered in the area and another five were found further northwest near Marton, said police spokeswoman Kim Perks.

Ms Perks said after the train, which had been carrying the cheese, arrived in Auckland today it was discovered that five of its containers had been broken into.

"All five containers have been isolated and police are now working with KiwiRail to establish what was in the containers and exactly what, if anything, had been stolen from them."

One was confirmed as carrying cheese and another was believed to be carrying malt.

The two people arrested were a man and woman aged 21 and 23 respectively.

The train had gone through the Halcombe area over six hours before the pair were stopped.

Police said this morning it was believed passers-by had helped themselves to cheese blocks found by the roadside.

This afternoon police were investigating whether the cheese was stashed and if the pair were linked with the actual break-ins.

- NZPA