Snail's pace finding after 100 years

The two sites where the snail has been found are now vying to give the creature an English name – either the Cliveden snail or the Brownsea snail.

The snail hitched a ride from Europe on statues, rocks and brickwork in the 19th century but remained hidden until recently.

It was discovered at the National Trust's Cliveden estate in Buckinghamshire, right, by volunteers cleaning statues in 2008.

The snail has also turned up at the Trust's Brownsea Island, Dorset, on rock which came from Greece in the 1880s.

The snail was thought to have arrived on a balustrade from the Villa Borghese in Rome in 1896, and has taken more than a 100 years to reach stonework 60 yards away.

Matthew Oates, National Trust nature conservation adviser, said: "The Victorians and Edwardians loved importing statues, rock and brickwork from the Mediterranean. The shipping over of this 'bling' in large quantities suggests we could find new species, such as this lovely little snail, in surprising places."

The National Trust is now asking the public to help establish the true extent of the snail's distribution across the country.