Staff at a wildlife park who are celebrating successfully breeding African spurred tortoises for the first time believe the soaring summer temperatures helped.

The four tiny babies, measuring just 5cm long, have been named Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo after their Ninja Turtle distant cousins by the Lake District Wildlife Park, near Keswick, England.

Park manager Richard Robinson said the eggs were successfully incubated for 100 days, and the babies hatched three weeks ago.

He said: "We have had eggs in the past but we never managed to get everything in place.

"I would like to think the wonderful weather we had helped things along.

"We also have a very good reptile keeper who incubated the eggs successfully, so the skill and dedication of the staff had a big influence."

African spurred tortoises, also known as sulcata tortoises, can live to be 150 years old, and keep growing, weighing up to 90kg.