THE GREAT ESCAPE!

Steve continues: “Dad used to sell tortoises in the 1960s and 1970s, shipped into the country for sale in many British pet shops.

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He used to put them outside our shop in the summer for a bit of sunlight and warmth in something like a kiddies’ playpen. He couldn't have secured it properly on one occasion, because the tortoises all escaped.

“They don’t move very quickly so they couldn't go too far, but you could tell they were ours because dad used to chalk the price of the tortoises on their shells.

“So people started finding these tortoises and bringing them back to our shop - ‘this is one of your tortoises; they'd say. They'd probably wandered into Abbey Hulton gardens and started eating their plants.”