Tortoise does a runner - a mile across busy town

Cathryn with runaway tortoise Tommy

The owner of a runaway tortoise is tightening up security after her 60-year-old pet reached the other end of a busy Borders town.

Cathryn Scott is still unsure how Tommy crossed at least three busy roads, a town centre and a footbridge to end up about a mile away from home.

But the legal services officer from Selkirk is taking no more chances.

Cathryn said: "We are reinforcing his pen by building up the wire netting and creating an overhang."

Despite looking after Tommy for 40 years, Cathryn can only recall a couple of previous escapes before this summer.

He was found within a short walk following both of his breakouts in 2017 - the first on a neighbouring road, and then in a neighbour's garden.

Tommy the tortoise travelled for more than a mile across a busy town before being found

During his two-day great escape last week, Tommy reached the other side of Selkirk.

Cathryn explained: "We had been away in Arran on a long weekend and a friend was looking after him.

"He wasn't in his pen when we got back on the Sunday evening, and despite searching in and around our garden he couldn't be found.

"I put up a post on Facebook for friends to look out for him and the following evening I got a message to say that he had been found walking around the grassy area outside Riverside Nursing Home - that's at the other end of the town.

"We think he's made his own way down to the High Street and someone has helped him with the rest, although it's unlikely we'll ever know for sure."

Cathryn believes Tommy reached Scotts Place, where he may have been helped through the town centre

It is estimated that tortoises can travel at speeds of up to one kilometre (about half a mile) every three or four hours.

But Tommy still had to manoeuvre his way across the town's busy Scotts Place, High Street and the A7 trunk road before descending either the Green or Forest Road to reach the Ettrick Water.

He also had to cross either the road or foot bridge to reach the Bannerfield area where he was found on Monday evening.

Within days of being returned to his pen, Tommy made another bid for freedom at the weekend.

This time he was found later in the day wandering in the undergrowth at the bottom of a neighbour's garden.

Cathryn and husband, Michael, are building up the fences around Tommy's pen

Cathryn added: "The neighbours are landscaping their garden so he was lucky.

"There's a digger working in there and they are spraying all of the overgrown areas of grass.

"Hopefully this will be the last drama we have with Tommy."