AN Essex bin man made an unusual collection during his rounds when he found a tortoise in a bag of rubbish.

AN Essex bin man made an unusual collection during his rounds when he found a tortoise in a bag of rubbish.

The abandoned reptile was discovered in Hakewill Way, Colchester, by refuse collector Shaun Wilson, who took it home with him and called the RSPCA.

Mr Wilson thought the animal was a toy at first before he noticed it moving and realised it was very much alive.

He said: “I have a tortoise myself - I can't believe that someone would just put one out with the rubbish.”

The tortoise is now being cared for at the RSPCA's group office in Writtle, near Chelmsford, and inspector Wendy Knowles said it would soon be off to a new home.

She said: “It looks as though this poor tortoise was just thrown out with the rubbish, although it may have escaped and crawled into the rubbish or have been hibernating and the owners thought it was dead and thrown it out.

“There is no excuse for anyone dumping animals - we are always happy to help people who can no longer look after their animals.”