The binliner of grass cuttings must have seemed the most welcoming of beds for Fred the tortoise as he sought shelter from the dismal summer.

But the 30-year-old family pet soon found himself under tonnes of junk in a landfill after he was accidentally mixed up with the rubbish.

Jane Deslandes, Fred's owner, was overcome with guilt after she threw him out, unwittingly sending him on a 20-mile journey. Fred has been a fixture of the family all his life and Mrs Deslandes's six children had grown up with him.

She said: “It was absolutely horrendous when we realised what had happened. We panicked because we didn't know where the rubbish goes, so we had to phone the council to find out.”

Thanet Council informed her that Fred had probably been taken to Canterbury in the back of a bin lorry by Viridor, its waste contractors.

Mrs Deslandes and her daughter Maria, 26, set off in haste for the landfill tip where they met Vinod Mehroke, the site manager, who had already spent an hour searching in vain for Fred. They were given high-visibility jackets so they too could join the hunt. But after three hours of sifting through household waste there was still no sign of him. The site manager broke the news that, while he would leave no bag unopened in the quest to save Fred, he would have to bury all the rubbish at 5pm. Mrs Deslandes burst into tears.

Dejected, she and her daughter gave up hope. “We were devastated - we tried for ages but just couldn't find him. Eventually, we had to give up and go home - I cried all the way back.”

However, Mr Mehroke and two of his workers carried on searching for another hour and, minutes before the rubbish was buried, a bag was overturned to reveal Fred, alive and well.

“He had a couple of chips on his shell. Otherwise he was OK,” Mrs Deslandes said. “We took him to the vet and they gave him a vitamin injection - they said it was a miracle. I can't thank the guys enough.”

Helen Briggs, a spokeswoman for the RSPCA, said that homeowners should be vigilant when disposing of garden waste. “Grass and any other material should be checked for animals - this includes wild animals such as hedgehogs, as well as pet tortoises,” she said.

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