Hello. It is with a heavy heart that I have to share today’s very sad news that Myrtle O’Flynn died this morning whilst eating her favourite breakfast of lettuce and rain water. Her close friends, who were with her at the painless end, say that even nibbling salad had become a struggle for the fine old lady. Myrtle was Beckworth’s oldest resident, and probably the World’s, living a staggering 762 years or thereabouts. A post mortem should give us her definite age, as i’m told they will cut her open and count some rings or something, a similar technique to finding the age of trees and bushes. Myrtle the turtle leaves a daughter Rose, aged 695 years and living in Seattle, and approximately 1.5 million descendents, to whom we pass on our sympathy.  Thanking you. Timothy Thetford. Head Zookeeper. Crewbury Zoo and Aquapark

(Above) Ms Myrtle O’Flynn enjoying what was to be her last meal earlier today