Double coastguard rescue for runaway Swanage tortoise

Girly got lost on a wander from his home in Swanage

Coastguards have twice rescued a runaway pet tortoise who wandered into a station on the Dorset coast.

Swanage Coastguard Rescue Team said seven-year-old Girly found his way to the local coastguard station after crawling from his home on Monday, only to later escape from his temporary pen.

Luckily the reptile was found again the following morning enjoying the sun.

Station officer Ian Brown admitted: "I didn't realise how quickly they can move."

Mr Brown said he had first noticed "something crawling" in front of the station on De Moulham Road while he was working on Monday afternoon.

"It turned out to be a tortoise. I have rescued a few things over the years but this is a new one for me," he said.

Girly was spotted in front of the coastguard station

The tortoise was collected by the team and looked after while they attempted to track down Girly's owner.

However he want missing from the station again overnight, sparking another search and rescue mission.

"Thankfully at 09:30 [on Tuesday morning] he was found warming up in the sun and detained in custody and straight back to the owner this time.

"The owner is very grateful but I won't be chasing tortoises anymore," said Mr Brown.