A couple were turtley amazed to see a terrapin when they went shopping to Lidl.

Tashaa Buswelll and partner Sarah Cochrane saw the freshwater turtle swimming away in the pond at Nature Alive in Coalville as they popped out to do their weekly shop.

“I could not believe my eyes,” said Tashaa.

“It was happily swimming away with the swans and ducks. It swam right up to us.”

Tashha, 28, who used to live in Barrow-upon-Soar, moved to Coalville three months ago with 22-year-old Sarah.

They spotted the reptile as they walked to the supermarket on Thornborough Road at about 6.30pm on Tuesday.

She said: “Just a few weeks ago we read on a local Facebook site about a terrapin which local legend had it had been living in Nature Alive for years.

"Then we happen across him in the nature reserve very soon after. It's right next door to Lidl and Aldi

The pair have given him the nickname Terry and plan to visit him again.

“We plan to go see him again as we have dogs and walk them down there almost every day,” said Tashaa.

Sarah and Tashaa

“He looked healthy and happy I know not much about terrapins but he looked okay to me.

“I think he is a local legend. It’s not very often you see them in the wild in England.

“The little guy came right up to us and stayed there for about 15 minutes and then carried on his merry way. It was lovely.”

Terrapins, which can grow to the size of a dinner plate, were originally native to Britain about 8,000 years ago and have returned, transported from the USA as pets during the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles cartoon craze of the 1980s.

Terrapins are omnivores and eat all types of plant and animal foods like fruits, vegetables, grasses, flowers, fishes, snails, worms, and insects,.

They can live to the age of 30, so perhaps Tashaa and Sarah have plenty of time to get to know Terry.