My pet tortoise comes to the pub with me - I’ve set up a trust fund so he can be cared for when I’m gone

Grandmother Jackie Leek has struck up a remarkable bond with a giant tortoise which she takes everywhere with her - including down the pub.

Jackie, 58, bought the African sulcata tortoise she calls Mr Miyagi for company when recovering from cancer 18 months ago. Since then, the pair have become inseparable and she has taken the eight-year-old tortoise on holiday in her caravan and for regular strolls on the beach.

Mr Miyagi weighs around three stone (19kg) and is expected to be around 10 stone (63kg) when he gets older. And because he could live to be 120, she has even set up a trust fund for him so he can be cared for when she’s gone.

Jackie said Mr Miyagi enjoys sitting in a children's sand pit that's been filled up with water, but has been known to "rearrange the furniture" in the house. 

Jackie, a former nurse, of Warrington in Cheshire, said: "I open the door and he just follows me down the drive and onto the estate, where we live. People will abandon their cars when they see us, they will stop and ask if he's real and if they can touch him.

“He helps me loads, I do have some dark days. He gives me a purpose and when I'm crying, he sits there and I talk to him.”