Giant Kesgrave tortoise Titan picked up by police

Titan the tortoise was loaded into a police van and returned to his owner

A giant tortoise managed to make it about a mile across a town before being apprehended by police.

Titan, who weighs in at a whopping nine stone (60kg), was found in Kesgrave, near Ipswich, on Friday.

It took three police officers to lift the wayward pet into a van and drive him home to his worried owner.

Richard Aston said it was a "mystery" how Titan made it that far as he had not broken through his shelter. "Maybe he teleported there," he said.

When police called Mr Aston, he was not at home so had no idea his 35-year-old pet African sulcata tortoise was on the loose.

"There was no sign of the fence being broken, and he can't jump over it - it's three feet high," he said.

How many police officers does it take to lift a tortoise? The answer is three...

He said it was "a bit of a mystery" how Titan, who measures about one metre (40in) across, had ended up in a road about a mile from his home.

"It's just another of his adventures," he said.

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Suffolk Police said they were called by a member of the public to reports of the giant tortoise on the loose in Dr Watson's Lane in the town, at about 14:25 BST on Friday.

Officers who attended decided to take Titan back to his owner and it took three of them to lift him into a police van.

Titan can be seen here next to an adult Hermann's tortoise, commonly kept as pets

Posting photographs on Twitter with the hashtag "slowjustice", they said the tortoise was "too large for the van cell so had to travel wagon side" just behind the driver.

Mr Aston was full of praise for the officers, saying they were "lovely" and "went out of their way" to return Titan.

A few days later, he said Titan was none the worse for his ordeal and was wandering around the garden enjoying the sunshine.

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