Owner's relief as fled tortoise found yards away

A tortoise owner reunited with his runaway pet has said it was "brilliant" to have him home again after the hot weather made him scarper.

Seventy-five-year-old Tortie escaped from his home in Harborne, Birmingham, on Friday. After a number of false alarms, he was located yards away in a neighbouring garden on Tuesday.

Owner John Lakey, who has had the fully grown seven-inch creature since he was a seven-year-old boy, said: "Tortoises are cold blooded, which means when you get hot weather they get much, much, much more active.

"Contrary to what people think, they're not that slow. On a warm day he moves along at human trotting speed."

Lakey added that Tortie was "not going to keep up with Usain Bolt, but he can move along quite well".

The septuagenarian made his way down six stairs before absconding through a hole in the bottom of the fence.

And he was not the only one nearby to make a bid for freedom, his owner explained.

Lakey said: "I've had four phone calls over the weekend including one from Sutton Coldfield, from people who say, 'I've found your tortoise'.

"All the tortoises in the Midlands have got frisky."

The reptile has had a number of lucky escapes in the past, including surviving being run over in 1985 while his owner was listening to the Live Aid concert on the radio.

He was less lucky when he dug his way out of a pen and was clipped by Lakey's father's lawnmower.

On that occasion, Tortie spent three months recuperating in a specialist hospital in Romford and returned with a scarred shell patched together with epoxy resin.

The thrill-seeker also used to throw himself down the basement stairs "for fun", Lakey added.

"He's been very, very lucky, in an unlucky sort of way."

Tortie was acquired by the family by default when they moved house in 1974.

The previous owner left a note to say the reptile was hibernating in a Walkers Crisps box in the garage - and not to wake him until April.

Lakey brought him to live in Birmingham after his mother died in 2012.

The freelance motoring journalist, who is celebrating his 59th birthday on Tuesday, said the return of his pet had been "the only present I want".

He added it was "just brilliant to have him home".

"He's been a part of my life since I was seven years old and I found it difficult to imagine he wouldn't be part of my life any more."

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