The marine mammal delighted crowds in Scarborough, Yorks, on New Year's Eve

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Celebrity walrus Thor has left Yorkshire to return to his Arctic home following an incredible 3,000-mile journey that saw him swim past France and the Netherlands before visiting two English coastal towns.

The marine mammal delighted crowds in Scarborough on Friday, weeks after he was spotted resting up on a beach in Southampton.

Such was the excitement, a cordon was erected around him to keep buoyant crowds in place, with wildlife experts having warned that he was 'taking a break' before continuing his journey north.

Thor is believed to have left his home in the Arctic circle earlier this winter and may have travelled from as far as Canada before he was spotted on the coast of Zeeland, in the south east corner of the Netherlands, on November 6.

The Arctic walrus continued his journey along the North Sea towards and was seen along the Belgian coast, before reaching the English Channel and the shores of Dieppe and Brittany in northern France.

Thor was pictured resting ashore at the port of Dieppe, Normandy, with no signs of ill health on November 19.

Local authorities again cordoned off the area from the public with the warning of giving the walrus a wide berth, before he dropped back into the water the following day.

More than three weeks later, the walrus was spotted resting on Calshot Beach in Hampshire.

Fisherman Darren McKell was out with his wife Caroline and son Luke in the early hours when they found the 'big lump' on December 11.

The 49-year-old said: 'It was unbelievable and such a shock. I thought it was a seal at first but as I got closer I saw it was huge and it was a walrus.

'It was absolutely amazing to see something like that, especially in these waters. I hadn't realised how rare it was to see a walrus here.