A runaway tortoise has been found by her worried owners after nearly two years - a mile-and-a-half from home.
Lottie the tortoise disappeared just two days after she had been given to schoolgirl Maddie Tibble as a ninth birthday present.
The enterprising reptile escaped out of the back garden and into adjoining school playing fields, reports the Daily Mail.
Maddie, of Grays, Essex, was naturally very upset but eventually accepted she would never see her tortoise again.
But, 22 months later, Lottie was found plodding down a road on the far side of the playing fields - just one-and-a-half miles from home.
Despite having to fend for herself and having to endure one of the hardest winters in decades, she survived in fine health.
Lottie was handed in to the local vets who was able to return the pet to her astonished owner because she had been fitted with a microchip.
"I just didn't believe it was her,"said Maddie, 10. "I was really shocked I just thought it must be another tortoise, but I am so pleased to have her back."
Her mother Beth Tibble, 44, added: "We are so pleased to have Lottie back and in good health.
"Maddie was so upset. We did get a new tortoise but we gave it away because it was just not the same."
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