A pensioner left devastated when her pet tortoise went missing has been reunited with the animal a year on - after it was found 22 miles away.

Wendy Stokes, 74, had given up hope of ever finding 109-year-old Toby when he escaped from her garden last May.

The grandmother spent weeks trawling fields around her farm in West Hougham for the beloved pet, but had no luck.

But she was stunned when she received a call on Sunday saying the tortoise had been found.

Toby had managed to crawl towards a country road after his escape, where he was picked up by a driver.

They took him to a rescue centre and six months ago, he was rehomed with a couple in Margate.

After spotting the name Stokes painted on his shell, the pair decided to try and track down Toby's owner.

And after ringing every person with that surname in Kent, they eventually stumbled upon Wendy who immediately arranged to pick him up.

"I had painted my name and number on the side of his shell but it had faded when he went missing, so they couldn't read it.

"The people who found him could read Stokes but they couldn't make out the number.

Video: Wendy Stokes with tortoise Toby

"He had got out because I had left my gate open. It is normally closed because we have sheep in the paddock but they were in a different field.

"Toby just walked out and trotted towards the road where somebody picked him up and took him to a rescue centre.

"Everyone knows I have a tortoise and we always take him to the village fete so he is a bit of a local celebrity.

"I was devastated when he went missing and spent weeks looking for him in all the fields around the farm.

"I went all goosey when they told me they had Toby because I had really given up on him.

"It is brilliant having him back and I think everybody was keeping their eye out for him all this time."

Retired farm worker Wendy had lost Toby on May 19 last year after being given him in the 1980s by her aunt.