A tortoise has been reunited with his owner after setting out on a perilous walkabout.

During his travels, 33-year-old Gordon almost caused a traffic pile-up, stole the heart of a policeman and ended up in a kennel being pampered.

The roving reptile is the pet of 36-year-old Sara Hill and husband Domino, 39, of Ely Drive, Rottingdean.

Sara adopted Gordon 14 years ago, when he appeared in her back garden covered in earth after a winter's hibernation.

She said: "He suffers from a medical condition which means he's almost blind, so although we allow him free run of the garden I usually have to track him down every day for his medicine."

Sara raised the alarm after Gordon went walkabout for two days. A fox had dug beneath the garden fence and provided him with a bolt hole.

Sara put up posters, handed out leaflets, called on neighbours and even made an emotional plea on local radio.

Gordon had, in fact, clumped his way through gardens and into a main road, where an eagle-eyed driver spotted him and slammed on the brakes.

Sara said: "The driver did an emergency stop and so did several cars behind him. He got out of his car and picked him up to show all the other cars why he had stopped.

"Then he took him to the police box in Peacehaven and he was taken to the station in Newhaven.

"PC Phil Henderson fell in love with him and took him home to look after him while they tried to find us."

PC Henderson put Gordon in a box but soon realised he was not well. He took the tortoise to a sanctuary in Newhaven where the owners decided he needed specialised care.

He was then sent to another rescue centre in East Sussex.

Meanwhile, a colleague of PC Henderson's in the Rottingdean area, PC Mark Cranley, spotted Sara's posters and ran checks through the police computer.

He said: "I made some inquiries and found out he was safe and well so I phoned Sara."

Sara said: "When I arrived at the sanctuary they told me he had been bullied when he was put in with all the males. So there he was in a dog kennel, surrounded by girls and looking very pleased with himself."

Now safe and sound, Gordon is recovering from his trip, feasting on a diet of fruit and vegetables and enjoying daily swims in the garden pond.

Sara said: "I love him - he's my baby."