Railway workers have been left shocked after spotting a missing tortoise walking on train tracks.

Staff at c2c station in Southend first spotted the reptile, called Tony, wandering around the area on Wednesday.

Workers from Network Rail blocked the line, rescued the adorable animal and he took shelter at the station's ticket office.

It was then discovered Tony had actually been missing from Westcliff for two weeks and he was reunited with his owner.

A c2c spokesperson say the team were "surprised" when they first saw Tony walking on the track.

They said: "The team at Southend Central were taken by surprise when they spotted a tortoise on the tracks Wednesday night and reached out to our colleagues at Network Rail to safely escort him off the railway.

"Unfortunately, they couldn't find him but when our colleagues checked again in the morning they found Tony making his way up the tracks, they got in touch with Network Rail to block the line and get him to safety.

"He took shell-ter in the ticket office with our colleagues until his owner collected him.

"Tony has reportedly been missing from Westcliff for the past two weeks - we can confirm taking the train from Westcliff to Southend Central would have been quicker."