A tortoise has been rescued from a house fire after it set the place ablaze.
The 45-year-old reptile knocked a heat lamp onto its bedding, which caught light, filling the house, near Uttlesford in Essex, with smoke. Fire fighters from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service put the blaze out and rescued the unnamed shell-dweller.
Gary Wain, watch manager at Great Dunmow Fire Station, said: “This tortoise has had a very lucky day.”