A terrapin has been spotted in the River Thames by a lifeboat crew from RNLI Teddington.

A volunteer crew was practising towing last Friday morning (15 March) when they spotted the reptile sunning itself around Ham.

The station asked the Canal & River Trust to help identify the animal they spotted "sunning itself" in a tweet on the day.

According to the trust, terrapins are not indigenous to the River Thames, and while originally native to Britain 8,000 years ago, have now returned.

The Trust says they were reintroduced to Britain's waterways in the 1980s after fans of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Hero Turtles in the UK) imported terrapins from the USA as pets.

The invasive species eat native bird eggs and insect larvae, yet are at risk themselves due to the cold and wet British weather.