Tortoise crosses M25

A tortoise nicknamed Freeway crossed five lanes of London's M25 motorway and survived

Published: 8:00AM BST 19 Sep 2009

Driver John Formby spotted Freeway and pulled over to rescue him.

Mr Formby, from Worthing, said: "I saw this bundle in the road and thought it was a bit of debris. I went to swerve it but noticed it was moving - then saw it had a head.

"I couldn't believe it was a tortoise crossing the motorway, through traffic travelling at 70mph.

"I pulled over and ran 400 yards back up the road to get it.

"I was holding my breath as it came from the central reservation towards the hard shoulder.

"Three vehicles went right over the top of it but somehow missed it. It didn't even pop back into its shell, just kept on walking as if it knew it had to get to the other side."

He ran out and picked him Freway in the slow lane, stopped off to buy him lunch of lettuce and tomato, before driving him to an animal centre near his home, where vets found he had been microchipped - in America.

Billy Elliot, of the Worthing and District Animal Sanctuary, said: "That explained why he was on the wrong side of the road.

"We have named him Freeway for now, the American word for motorway."

Freeway was found on the junction of the M25 and M23, miles from the nearest house.

Mr Elliott said: "People always think of tortoises as slow, but turn your back on them and they can disappear before you know it. About this time of year he might have been off looking for a mate.

"It's a miracle he survived. He could have been on the road for a long time before he was picked up. It was the busiest time of the day on one of the busiest roads in the country. He couldn't have picked a worse place to go for a stroll."

Freeway, a Hermann's tortoise, thought to be about 10 years old, is being cared for by vets for the weekend while Mr Elliott tries to trace his owners.

He said: "Freeway is in very good health and well cared for. He has obviously been brought over from America as a pet so there must be a family out there missing him. He is likely to live another 50 or 60 years. We would love to find the family.

"Whenever we get an exotic pet handed over we get dozens of calls from people claiming it is theirs so it's great he is chipped.

"It just shows how important it is to keep your details up to date on your pet's chip database when you move house or change your phone number."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6208290/Tortoise-crosses-M25.html