A pet owner was forced to rifle through 1,000 bags of rubbish when her 90-year-old tortoise hitched a lift in a bin lorry and ended up at the local tip.
Sarah Joiner contacted Westminster Council after releasing Zuma was missing from his home in Central London, believing he had crawled into a rubbish bag.
Using satellite tracking, the council tracked down the refuse lorry to a waste treatment facility operated by Veolia.
Luckily for Zuma the collection vehicle, carrying 10 tonnes of waste, had not yet tipped its waste into the massive storage bunker which processes thousands of tonnes of waste.
After dressing in protective clothing, Mrs Joiner and staff used a thermal imaging camera to hunt for the lost tortoise amid 1,000 bags of rubbish. He was eventually found amid a pile of lettuce leaves and plucked to safety.
Mrs Joiner, 56, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, said: “Thank you is never going to be enough. It was amazing teamwork; there was no nonsense about it just enormous good will in finding him.”
Spurred tortoise Zuma, whose full name Montezuma, has lived with Mrs Joiner for 40 years, has now returned safely to his home.
Cllr Melvyn Caplan, Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for City Management and Customer Services said: “We’ve all had that feeling of panic when we realise we’ve lost something, but when it’s a much loved family pet then it really is a disaster.
“I commend our staff and colleagues at Veolia for pulling out the stops to ensure a successful reunion between Zuma and Sarah.”
Lynn Davis, Contract Manager at Veolia added: "I'm delighted that were able to find Zuma and return him to Mrs Joiner unharmed, he really has survived against the odds. The team were all keen to help when they heard what had happened and together we were able to ensure that the search was conducted safely and effectively.
“This was certainly a different way to spend a Friday afternoon and I'm just relieved we were successful."
