A westcountry woman is 'devastated' after thieves stole more than 20 tortoises from her sanctuary, including seven stone Zeus. The huge reptile and 20 others were stolen from their padlocked pens in The Tortoise Garden in Cornwall in a night-time raid. Five other tortoises had been stolen from the sanctuary earlier that day, sparking owner Joy Bloor to announce on her website that she was selling up.

'My immediate gut reaction was that I can't do this anymore,' she said. 'I'm going to stay open for the rest of the season but I may close in the winter. 'I'm just so gutted – I can't tell you how bad I feel. The thieves took several different species including many rare, high value tortoises, leading Joy to think that they were probably stolen to order. This is not the first time The Tortoise Garden, in Sticker near St Austell, has been targeted by thieves. In June of this year, seven baby tortoises were stolen during the day and were never recovered. Joy hopes that they have better luck in recovering the creatures this time.

There is more on this story in this week's Cornish Times.