Escaped emu Erica is back home safe and well after two days on the run.

She took flight on Tuesday after being spooked by high winds caused by Storm Gareth.

Following appeals on Facebook, she was spotted exploring the Sheppey bird reserve and finally recaptured.

Delighted owner Jan James announced on Thursday : "She's home!"

She added: "I'd like to give a huge thank you to all the wonderful Sheppey Peeps who shared our missing emu post

"We had lots of messages and pictures keeping us up to date with her roaming adventure. With the wonderful help of Jamie Goodwin, Eleanor Bessie Goodwin and their nephew Ed, Erica is now safely back home in lock-down."

During the search, Jan tracked the runaway bird to a field and managed to feed her and give her a cuddle. But additional hands were needed later to get Erica back home to Leysdown.

Jan said: "Erica was too far from our farm to walk her back without her getting spooked and running off again. There were too many exciting things for her to run at and explore."

Jan earlier appealed to concerned Islanders not to approach Erica as she was safe "mooching" and to "just admire her from afar."

She added: "Emus are not dangerous but they can become very nervous when approached by anything or anyone they don't know. Our fear was that she would run towards a road."

Erica jumped the perimeter fence after being scared by high winds.