Two penguins have been found by police officers two months after they were stolen.

The pair of Humboldt penguins were taken in November last year from a zoo in Nottinghamshire.

Police officers rescued them on Wednesday afternoon in Strelley Village, west Nottingham, after a tipoff, and returned them to the undisclosed zoo.

A 23-year-old-man was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft. He has since been released under investigation.

Sgt Andrew Browning and PC Paul Toon of Nottinghamshire police worked together during the investigation.

Browning said: “My first thought was this is one for the books, and one to tell the grandkids, because there’s no way we thought we would go down there and actually find two penguins.

“It was an unusual one. Even when we went down to custody it made everyone laugh, particularly the custody sergeant who was booking us in. It was a real off-the-wall find.”

Humboldt penguins are found along the coast of Peru and Chile and can grow up to 2ft long.