MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS (UK) 02 March 06 Shell-shock over stolen tortoise
Staff at an Eccles business have been left stunned after a raid on their premises robbed them of the company mascot - a 30-year-old tortoise called Shelly.
AB Cases, on the Lyntown Trading Estate, which makes wooden packing cases, was broken into and systematically robbed by thieves.
But one of the boxes they took contained Shelly the tortoise and she has not been seen since, much to the distress of staff and company owners Carol Yates and Barrie Cooper.
Carol, 57, said: "Everyone is very upset and can't believe she has gone, and we all want her back.
"What worries us is that she hasn't hibernated and has to be fed each day. She is also very picky about her food and we fear that when the robbers realise there is nothing of worth in the box for them they will ditch it.
"The trouble is she is invaluable to us. Equipment we can replace on the insurance, but Shelly we can't and everyone at the factory is desperate to get her back.
"Even our pet dog Zeus, a nine-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier, is missing her.
"Of course, we are offering a reward for the safe return of Shelly and people can contact us either at the factory on: 0161 788 9977 or on my mobile on: 07970 899419."Carol said they had only been in premises on the Lyntown Trading Estate for a week, having moved from a factory on the Green Lane Industrial Estate.
Workers were in the process of transferring the final load of equipment from Green Lane into a lorry when they noticed they were being watched by people in a red car, possibly a Ford Escort or Cortina.
The car followed them to the Lyntown Estate but then sped off. That evening after staff had left, the firm's new premises were broken into and a large amount of equipment, including a heavy duty vacuum cleaner, saw, drill and other industrial tools were stolen.
All the goods were loaded into the firm's lorry, later found abandoned in the Parrin Lane area, but the box containing a nesting Shelly was missing.
Carol said: "We are worried when they realise what's in the box, they will just dump Shelly somewhere and she will die because she needs feeding regularly and is very old."
Shell-shock over stolen tortoise

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