Sign up to the Lincolnshire Live newsletter for daily updates and breaking news Sign up here! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A heartwarming moment for three generations of a family saw their 800th and 801st seals released back into the sea after being rescued.

The momentous occasion was caught on camera by Nicky Yeadon as founder John, his wife Margaret, son Richard and grandchildren Matthew and Daisy marked the huge achievement for the family.

Natureland Seal Sanctuary in Skegness was founded 53 years ago by John - and all three generations celebrated the milestone on Thursday, April 12.

They released Ellie and Elijah back into the wild - after a bit of coaxing to begin with.

The seal sanctuary is now run by John's son Richard, with more responsibilities now being handed down to grandchildren Matthew and Daisy.

The pair told Lincolnshire Live: "We are both incredibly proud to be able to follow in our granddad’s and parent’s footsteps, moving forward as the new managers of Natureland.

"After 53 years of Yeadon management, we hope to continue to maintain an excellent visitor attraction and seal sanctuary for our visitors.

"Our work with baby seals is very rewarding, and being able to give these beautiful creatures a second chance at life in the wild is extremely satisfying.

"We released our 800th seal very recently, and we still have more seals to care for in Natureland, so our work never stops - but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

"Our family has dedicated over half a century to saving these animals, and we hope to continue on with this work for the foreseeable future.”

Unfortunately, Duncan Yeadon, Richard’s brother and fellow director of Natureland, passed away a couple of weeks ago after losing his battle to cancer and was unable to be at the momentous occasion.

But the family said: "We know that he would have been very proud of us all for continuing our work and reaching this incredible milestone."