Firefighters raced to the rescue of a slow-moving tortoise after its tank went up in flames.

Two fire crews were scrambled to a flat on Altrincham Road in Wythenshawe just before 11am yesterday morning after a neighbour heard a smoke alarm and dialled 999.

Nobody was at home so firefighters wearing breathing masks broke in and put out the flames, which were sending smoke billowing through the property.

They found the tortoise, named Mervyn, who had retreated inside his shell after a lamp above his tank fell and set fire to his sawdust and pet food.

Fire crews placed the pet in a shower cubicle with a carrot until his owner arrived.

Watch Manager Darren Moreton said: “Tortoises need to be kept warm and Mervyn’s lamp had fallen down and started the blaze, so we quickly put it out with the hose reel.“

There was nobody in and Mervyn was inside his shell – at first we thought he was a goner, but thankfully he came out.

“It was lucky we arrived when we did – the fire was just about to catch properly, another five minutes and poor Mervyn could have ended up in the pet shop in the sky.”

A neighbour was also given oxygen by the firefighters from Wythenshawe and Cheadle after suffering slight effects of smoke inhalation.

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