A runaway tortoise which escaped from its home four years ago is found just a mile away - having averaged just 0.00011415525 mph had it made the journey in one go.
Fred, a male Hermann breed, was reunited with Georgina Rogerson, 46, after she saw a missing tortoise advert for him on Facebook in January this year.
The 55-year-old reptile - who had been bought by the family in 1973 for 50p - vanished in the winter of 2018 after he crept under a fence panel in the family garden.
Georgina said her family had been “gutted” to lose Fred and had presumed he had died.
But remarkably, the lost tortoise was found on a busy road by good Samaritan Sara Ellis, 34, roughly a mile from his original home, who gave him shelter.
Pet lover Sara, who owns horses and dogs, took him in four years ago.
Every year, she wrote a Facebook post about Fred in the hope of one day finding his owners.
And he was finally reunited with his family after Georgina saw the post and photo evidence proved his identity.
Mum-of-two Georgina said it was emotional when she caught sight of Fred again for the first time in four years.
She said: “I started crying, I couldn’t believe it.
“He was still the same old, full of naughtiness Fred. He’s got such a character, and he’s not changed at all. It was brilliant seeing him again.
She added: “I can’t believe he’s come back after all these years – it’s just amazing! I’m so grateful for Sara for stopping.”
Sara, an assistant manager at Aldi, from Fleetwood, Lancs., said Fred’s miraculous break-out showed that tortoises aren’t as sluggish as people may believe.
She said: “People think tortoises are slow and steady, but they’re absolutely not.
“If they’re on a mission like he was that day, they are pretty fast. They are good at escaping.”
Georgina, a trainee nurse associate, from Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancs., explained that "naughty" Fred would often go missing.
She said: “He’d usually escape from the front side of the house as we live on a cul de sac.
“We would get a knock on the door occasionally, and there would be a kid or a parent saying, “Your tortoise is here”.
“But in 2018, we had a storm, and the back fence had blown down in the wintertime.
“There’s a watercourse that surrounds our cul de sac, and behind that, there’s a wooded area and then there’s a field as well, and then you’re onto an A-road.
“We were gutted. We searched for him and put out flyers. But we thought if he’d gone out that back way, he’s dead – there’s no way he could survive.
However, after Fred managed to exist in the wild for a few months, the intrepid reptile was spotted by Sara on the road above Georgina's property in July 2018.
Sara said: “There were loads of cars start swerving around something in the road, and as I got to that point, I saw this tortoise walking along the road.
“I thought someone would stop, but then I saw loads of HGVs that were ready to get to that point, so I thought: “Sh*t, I’m going to have to stop here!”
“So, I did a U-turn when I got to some traffic lights, put my foot down, stuck my hazards on and picked him up and bunged him into my car.”
Sara originally placed Fred in a large cardboard box with straw and lettuce, which she got from her work place, believing that she would soon find his owner.
But when her social media appeals failed, she invested in a heat lamp and special enclosure, where the lucky tortoise could “live a life of luxury.”
She continued to search for Fred’s original owners by putting out a new social media posts with each passing year.
And finally, in January, she got a message from Georgina.
She said: “On the anniversary, I’d put a post up to say, “Look, I found this tortoise,” but nothing happened.”
“A couple of people messaged me, and I knew it was not there's, but then Georgina messaged me.
“I said: “Could you send me a picture so I can match up the shells?” It was spot on – and now me and Georgina are friends through a tortoise.”
With Fred now living back at his original home, Georgina said she couldn’t thank Sara enough for taking care of Fred for all these years.
She said: “She’d bought all the gear for him, so he’s got a proper house now, with a heat lamp. She’s an absolute angel.
“He’s staying in that now, and I’ll get him out during the day when I’m at home. But if I’m not at home, he’s not going out. He can’t be trusted anymore!”
