Toddles removed from a quiet life in garden to work as stud, family fears

Buyers are prepared to shell out 200 for tortoises and Toddles is still young enough to be capable of fathering offspring which could make thieves a tidy sum.

Owner Andy Evans, 56, who was aged four when he bought the reptile for four shillings and sixpence, said the North African spur thighed tortoise had been celibate all his life.

But with a life expectancy of around 90 Toddles is still capable of mating and producing young which can command a high price because imports are banned. A female can lay five or six eggs at a time.

Company boss Mr Evans, from Broomhill, Sheffield said : "There is no way Toddles could have got out of the garden so someone has been in and taken him.

"Importing tortoises is illegal but if they are bred here they sell for about 200 a time so as a stud Toddles could be a valuable asset and I believe that's why he has been taken.

"He lives out in the garden and we know all the places where he hides so we have searched everywhere.

"I bought him when I was four when tortoises were very common but since a ban was introduced their value has increased so he could be valuable at stud.

"We've been together for more than half a century and I miss Toddles.

"He's been part of my life since I bought him when I was four from a local pet shop near where I lived in Northampton."

Mr Evans and his wife Anna, 56, who have four grown up children, have stuck up posters around the area in a bid to have Toddles returned.

Mr Evans said: "He really is part of the family. Our children and grandchildren all miss him."