76842-05THEY have been a partnership for more than 30 years but Salt the tortoise is pining without her buddy Pepper.

Salt is in a sulk and refusing to go into her house at night since her friend went missing.

She won't move from the spot where Pepper was last seen before his disappearance.

Her owner Betty Jolly, of Okus Road, is des-perate to reunite the pair, which had only recently come out of hibernation, as soon as possible.

Pepper escaped from the garden on Monday.

Mrs Jolly said: "Pepper wouldn't go into his house, but that is not unusual."

Then the next morning there was no sign of him.

Mrs Jolly thought the garden was tortoise-proof, but she has since found a small hole in the fence.

Salt and Pepper were bought from Brett's Pet Shop on Commercial Road 31 years ago.

The Mediterranean tortoises were a present for Mrs Jolly's daughter Karen, then aged six.

Mrs Jolly said: "They're always to-gether."

It is the third time Pepper has escaped, but he has never before been gone for more than three hours.

Mrs Jolly has yet to tell her grandchildren about the disappearance. Megan, 11, Sam, eight, Ben, seven, and five-year-old Bethan, live in London.

"They come here regularly and always ask 'Are the tortoises out?' and go straight out the back," said Mrs Jolly.

She is offering a reward to the person who finds him. "We're desperate to have him back, and so is Salt," she said.

Anyone who finds Pepper should either hand him in to a vet or call Mrs Jolly on Swindon 01793 692603.