Turtle returned to aquarium 24 hours after being taken

Clyde the turtle handed back in washing-up bowl by young boy

The turtle taken from the Blue Planet Aquarium, which was returned yesterday (PA)

Clyde the turtle has been safely returned after reportedly being removed from an aquarium tank by a young boy. Clyde was returned to Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, in a washing-up bowl full of water on Wednesday.

Turtle keeper Tom Fielding said: “Thank you to everyone so much for getting the message out – this is incredible. Clyde was really cold so the first thing we needed to do was to get her warm.” He added: “The water she was brought back in was incredibly cold but I'm just thankful she's back and we can get her back to fighting fit now.”

Cheshire Police said officers are speaking to the people who returned the turtle to “establish the circumstances of the incident”.

Detectives issued a CCTV image of a woman in a public appeal for information after the 20cm-long reptile went missing at 5.30pm on Tuesday.

Press Association