A giant African land snail has been stolen from a sanctuary.

Hopefield Animal Sanctuary is now appealing for the large snail to be returned as soon as possible.

A post on the sanctuary's Facebook page reads: "Yesterday our beautiful giant land snail, Crunch, was stolen from the sanctuary during visitor hours.

"We have CCTV footage and this will be handed to police at the end of the day if Crunch is not returned to us.

"We will ask no questions, we just want him back home and where he belongs. If you were visiting yesterday and saw anything please contact us ASAP."