Arnie the runaway Shropshire tortoise turns up after TWO YEARS
A runaway tortoise has turned up after two years — at his family’s old Shropshire home just a mile away.
Pet Arnie was seen crawling up the drive by a window cleaner and identified by owner Sophie Bevan’s former neighbour.
Sophie, 53, said: “We searched for months when he went missing but we’d given up hope.
“We thought we’d never see him again. The strangest thing is, Arnie never lived at our old house. We bought him after we moved.”
The ten-year-old Macedonian tortoise was a Christmas present for Sophie’s daughter Tilda, 20, eight years ago.
He made his getaway in May 2015 when a gate was left open at their home in Middleton.
Sophie, who runs a furniture design firm with husband Rupert, 52, said: “We hunted for him but when winter had come and gone I assumed he wouldn’t have made it.
“We moved about 20 years ago but stayed friends with our neighbour. I couldn’t believe it when she called and said: ‘I might have found your tortoise’.
“We identified him by his markings using old photos.
“And he’s still got a blob of green paint on his shell Tilda put there. He was unhurt despite two winters outside.”
Former neighbour Sue Millington, 60, said Arnie was picked up by the window cleaner at Sophie’s old house in Hopton Cangeford.
Sue said: “He assumed it belonged to the home owners but when they said no, I remembered that Sophie and Rupert had one.
“The tortoise never lived here but still made its way here — maybe it detected some old smell.”
