Lizard on the loose! Couple rush home from their French holiday after pet REPTILE goes missing Archie the 5-foot long tegu lizard escaped from a neighbour's garden while owners Colette and Bob Pawan were abroad Lizard became centre of police search, couple alerted of his disappearance They immediately turned their car around and drove 1,000 miles back home Archie showed up the next day, walking the streets in the neighbourhood A couple abandoned their holiday in the south of France to return home after they found out their pet lizard had gone missing. Colette Pawan, 34, and husband Bob, 35, had just driven more than 1,000 miles from Swansea to Nice, when police alerted them to the disappearance. They had left their beloved Archie - a 5-foot long tegu lizard - with a neighbour, but only days into their holiday he had made his escape from their garden. Concern: Colette Pawan loves her pet lizard Archie so much she drove back to Wales from Nice, France, when she heard he went missing Police told the concerned couple that the black-and-white beast was now at the centre of a police search. The pair had only just arrived near Nice when they got the call about their missing pet - and jumped back in the car for the 12 hours drive home. And the couple were delighted today after Archie was back safe at their home in Swansea, South Wales. Teacher Colette said: 'It was awful. We were very worried about Archie - he is like a member of the family. 'We had only been in France a day or two but we couldn't stay there - we drove straight back. By the time we reached to Dover his picture was in the papers and on the news after it was issued by police. Part of the family: Mr and Mrs Pawan have owned Archie for six years and made built a purpose built extension for the reptile South Wales Police issued a missing pet alert on Sunday after Archie - a tegu normally only found in South America - made a dash for freedom. The neighbour looking after him left a door ajar while cooking him his favourite treat of boiled eggs. He was eventually found the next days safe and well, walking down a nearby street, and returned to his home - in the back of a police van. Police had issued a photograph of the gigantic black-and-white lizard after it vanished to warn people to watch out although it is not dangerous. Mr and Mrs Pawan have had Archie for six years. He has his own purpose-built extension at the couple's house, and is a regular sight being walked around the streets on a lead. He loves warming himself under his special heat lamps or sunbathing in the garden. Archie also likes sitting on Mrs Pawan's lap while they watch TV or going for trips to the beach. Familiar face: The fully-grown tegu lizard is regularly seen walking the streets of Swansea on his lead. Police released pictures of the lizard and launched a hunt for it after it disappeared from King Edward Rd, right Mr Pawan said: 'Our neighbour was looking after him and popped in to make him some boiled eggs. The door must have a bit ajar and he saw it and went for it. It was a sunny day and when he gets warm after sunbathing he gets a bit frisky. He's very intelligent and loves attention - he likes human company.' Mr Pawan added: 'The police were absolutely brilliant - the officers said it wasn't the kind of thing they do every day.' Tegu lizards are large, striped reptiles reaching four-to-five feet in length and weighing around 15 pounds. They are typically found in the wild in South America, although some species (Gold Tegu) can also be found in Panama. They look similar to monitor lizards, found in Africa, Asia and Australia, but they are not closely related. Monitor lizards, pictured in Africa, have smaller heads, longer necks, lighter bodies and a different pattern of scales, than tegus Tegus have larger heads, shorter necks, heavier bodies and a different pattern of scales, than their similar counterparts. In the wild they live in a variety of habitats from swamps to rainforests and savannahs. Argentine Black and White Tegu, Red Tegu and Gold Tegu are all common in the pet trade. Pets that have been released into the wild illegally have adapted to their environments. Remote areas of South Florida, US, have known populations of tegu, which would have been established from unwanted or escaped pets. The reptiles are omnivorous, using their forked tongues to forage for fruit, seeds, eggs and small vertebrates. South American communities consider them pests since they are renowned for raiding chicken coops and eating the eggs. They also enjoy a meal of crocodile eggs and in Florida they feed on the eggs of American alligators.