A FAMILY’S heartbreak has turned to joy with the return of their pet tortoise after the creature went missing for nine days.

Raph, the 12-year-old horsefield tortoise went AWOL on August 3 at the Kilburn’s family home at The Hill, in Millom.

The family believe he managed to escape under the garden gate by scraping away some of the stones and pulling his three inch high, and seven inch wide frame through a small gap.

Raph’s been a much loved part of the family for three years, and the household, including mum and dad, Emma, 38, and Richard, 39, and brother and sister, Taylor, 7, and Annabelle, 3, were distraught and spent hours combing nearby niches in the hope of finding him.

They had even offered a £100 reward for his safe return. After days of searching the family were overjoyed on Wednesday, when a nearby neighbour discovered the runaway pet under a mint plant.

Annabelle said she was very happy as she now gets to celebrate her fourth birthday with her pal next week.

Emma said: “We were in shock, the neighbour said ‘guess what I found’ and I could not believe it.

“He’s definitely been on an adventure, he’d been hiding in a mint plant growing on the side of a field and we’d looked there already about a million times.

“I think he’s just decided to come back into the sunshine from where ever he’s been hiding. When I broke the news to the children they were in shock, they just looked at me and couldn’t believe it.

“That is the best birthday present, Raph coming home for Annabelle’s birthday.”

She said the children had been left heartbroken over his disappearance and had been left fearing the worst.

The family are now looking into getting him microchipped to help find him should he repeat his escape act in future.