A tortoise has been reunited with his owner after spending nearly a year on the run and even finding a new home - at the age of 109 . Owner Wendy Stokes , 74 , had given up hope of ever seeing Toby again after he escaped from her garden 11 months ago . But he has now returned home and after piecing together his escapades over the last year , it 's become apparent he 's had quite an adventure . Reunited : Wendy Stokes , 74 , is delighted to have 109-year-old Toby back after his escape 11 months ago . He wandered through a gate in her garden and headed for the open road where he was picked up by a passing driver concerned for his safety and taken to a nearby animal rescue centre . Six months ago , he was re-homed with a couple living in Margate , Kent , 22 miles away from Wendy 's farm in West Hougham . But the couple , who could just about make out the word 'Stokes ' written in white paint on his shell , felt they needed to find out who Tony belonged to . With nothing else to go on , they decided to call every Stokes in Kent listed in the phonebook . Eventually came across a delighted Wendy , who immediately arranged to collect him . She 's had Toby since the 1980s when he was given to her by her late great aunt . He was returned home last Sunday , a full 11 months after his amazing , if a little slow , adventure . Wendy has had Toby since the 1980s and wrote her surname , Stokes , on his back in white paint . Retired farm worker Wendy said : ' I had painted my name and number on the side of his shell but it had faded when he went missing so they could n't read it . 'The people who found him could read Stokes but they could n't make out the number . 'He had got out because I had left my gate open . It is normally closed because we have sheep in the paddock but they were in a different field . 'Toby just walked out and trotted towards the road where somebody picked him up and took him to a rescue centre . 'Everyone knows I have a tortoise and we always take him to the village fete so he is a bit of a local celebrity . ' I was devastated when he went missing and spent weeks looking for him in all the fields around the farm . ' She added : ' I went all goosey when they told me they had Toby because I had really given up on him . 'It is brilliant having him back and I think everybody was keeping their eye out for him all this time . '
Toby escaped out the back gate from his Wendy Stokes ' garden in Kent . He was picked up by a driver on a nearby road and taken to a rescue centre . 11 months he was re-homed with a couple in Margate - 22 miles away . Toby had 'Stokes ' written on his shell so the couple tried calling every Stokes in Kent before reuniting him with Wendy Six months later after escape .