Tortoise found in Devon - after travelling 300 miles to Norfolk on the back of a lorry

Animal saved from disaster after it was found under a pile of newspapers about to be pulped

An appeal has gone out to find the owners of a tortoise in Devon - after it travelled nearly 300 miles in the back of a lorry to Norfolk.

Workers at a paper recycling plant in Kings Lynn were surprised to see the tortoise buried under a pile of newspapers which were just about to be pulped.

They think the animal travelled 270 miles on a lorry after being picked up from a recycling depot in Silverton, Devon.

A Mid Devon Council spokesman said: “It would appear that the tortoise must have been hibernating in a black box amongst paper put out for recycling.

“It would have been collected by our recycling team, tipped into a lorry, brought back to the depot and then tipped into a paper bay where it would have stayed for a day or two before being loaded into a lorry - a drop of about six metres - and then travelled to King's Lynn - a distance of 270 miles.

“Following its big adventure, we are happy to say that the tortoise is alive and very well and currently being cared for by one of the mill workers in King's Lynn.

“We would really like to be able to complete the journey of this intrepid tortoise, which we think is a 'she', by returning it to its owner.”

PA