TWO old dears with a combined age of 130 have been abducted from a village.

The two tortoises - 70-year-old Toby and Flash, aged 60 - vanished from their garden home in Greetland.

Their owners, Jessie and Gary Drinkwater, are desperate to get them back and have appealed for the thieves to have a heart and hand them in.

They have also appealed for pet shops to be on the lookout for anyone trying to sell the spur-thighed Mediterranean tortoises, which are between eight and 10 inches across.

Mr Drinkwater, 59, a self- employed stonemason, is offering a cash reward for their safe return.

The couple had even built a Swiss chalet style home in the garden for the tortoises, to protect them from bad weather.

It has lamps inside to keep the tortoises at the 90°F temperature they need.

Mrs Drinkwater, 57, said: "We have had Toby for around 30 years.

"Gary was out walking our dog one day when the dog leaped into a field and started to bark.

"Gary went to investigate and found the tortoise, but the field was due to be ploughed up and it would have been killed. So he saved it and brought it home."

They named the tortoise Toby, but only discovered he was a she when they joined the Manchester Tortoise Society and she was examined.

They inherited Flash from a relative about 15 years ago.

The tortoises were stolen on Sunday night or the early hours of Monday.

Mrs Drinkwater believes they were carried off in a planter, which is missing from the garden.

She said: "We found some dirt, which we think the thieves tipped out of the planter before using it to carry Flash and Toby off.

"It's unbelievable that someone has stolen them, but there is no way they could have got out of the garden by themselves.

"I've been in tears since they went.

"They both have their own characters and it's lovely to have them around," she added.

Anyone with information should phone the Calderdale police helpdesk on 01422 337059.

* The life span for a tortoise can be 100 years or more and some have lived up to 150 years

* Mediterranean tortoises are the most common tortoises in the UK

* More than 10m are thought to have been imported from the 1890s to 1984 when the trade was banned to protect the species

* The two main Mediterranean species are called Spur-thighed and Hermann's.

* Tortoises are cold-blooded reptiles

* They need the sun to warm their blood and hibernate in winter

* Once they are warm they can eat and digest food

* The best food for a tortoise is weeds

* They produce eggs and bury them in the ground