A reward is being offered for the safe return of three tortoises stolen from their home in Dartford.

Owner Sue Holmes says she is devastated after the pets, members of an endangered species, went missing from her back garden.

The oldest of the Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises, Lettuce, has been a part of her life for 42 years, while the other two pets, Lettuce’s 18-year-old daughters, she nurtured from birth.

The 52-year-old says she is particularly concerned for 42-year-old Lettuce, who is blind and needs to be fed by hand.

“I got her from a pet shop in Lowfield Street when I was 10 for five shillings.

"Then one summer we looked after a friend’s tortoise while they were on holiday, and they must have got up to something because we soon found two little eggs. We kept them warm in the airing cupboard and they eventually hatched.

“My son was only little then so he named them Trevor and Dilys, after Fireman Sam characters.”