Tortoise, 85, returns home after five-day search in Guernsey

An 85-year-old tortoise that went missing has been found after five days

An 85-year-old tortoise that went missing in Guernsey has been found after five days, her owner has said.

Tim the tortoise went missing from a garden at Jerbourg Point on Friday last week.

Her owner, Maggie Talbot-Cull, said it was possible a gate may have been left open and Tim wandered out, prompting a "needle in a haystack" search.

But she said Tim was found back in the garden on Wednesday afternoon.

"We are thrilled," she said.

Ms Talbot-Cull said it is not clear who returned the reptile because no-one was home at the time she was returned.

She said she would be donating £100 to the GSPCA as a thank you to all those who helped search for her.

Earlier, there was concern that Tim may have fallen down one of the nearby cliffs.

"It's like a needle in a haystack," she said before she was found.

"The worry is that she has fallen off a cliff and is on her back. She's very-well camouflaged and quite heavy, I can only just lift her.

"The family have had her since the war and you feel awful to have lost her."

Ms Talbot-Cull said she was gifted the tortoise by her godmother after World War Two.

She said Tim was believed to have been a male for the first 25 years of her life but a vet later confirmed she was female.

"We kept the name because that's what we had always called her," she said.

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