A serial runaway tortoise has been found by police after managing to crawl seven miles from its home in Germany.

A cycling policewoman found the missing reptile on a footpath near a reservoir in Schiedersee, in North Rhine-Westphalia state.

Her long-suffering owner – who has dealt with several previous escapes – had put a sticker on its shell with her name and phone number on it.

Local media revealed that the tortoise had escaped last autumn.

Then it hibernated somewhere over winter before appearing nearly nine months later on Monday, 22nd May.

When the policewoman could not reach the owner she emptied her backpack and put the tortoise in while she cycled home.

Spokesperson Nina Ehm from Lippe police said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “There the animal was temporarily given an escape-proof ‘all-inclusive quarter’ in the garden.

“It was returned to its happy owner the next day, who could be reached in the meantime.”

In a conversation with the police the owner said it was not the pet’s first runaway attempt but she added that it never expected it to get so far.