This sleepy dormouse was rescued after it wandered into a tea shop.

The desperate creature found himself at a tea party in the café in Lyme Regis, Dorset, just like the cute critter in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

But this dormouse was scooped up by a visitor and taken to the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, near Highbridge in Somerset, where he promptly went into hibernation.

Staff put the furry dormouse inside the shell of a coconut.

The snoring mouse was woken briefly when famous author Sir Terry Pratchett visited the centre to launch a £4.4 million Call of the Wild Appeal for a new animal hospital.

Charity founder Pauline Kidner said the mouse occasionally woke briefly for a catkin snack before nodding off again.

He will be returned to Lyme, a well known dormouse habitat, in the spring.

Nocturnal dormice, part of the rodent family, are known for their long periods of hibernation.

They usually measure between 6cm and 19cm and weigh between 15g and 200g.

Most dormice have an excellent sense of hearing, and signal each other with a variety of vocalisations.

They feed on fruits, berries, flowers, nuts and insects and can breed up to twice a year.