An over-friendly seal has been taken into rehab after being fed sandwiches, doughnuts and fish by people on the beach.

Spearmint the seal had become a familiar sight for beachgoers in Plymouth and Cawsand Bay, Cornwall.

But despite attempts by experts to rewild her, she has become too reliant on food given to her by humans and is now not eating.

The RSPCA is currently looking after her at its centre in West Hatch, Somerset, but hopes to be able to release her back into the sea in Scotland after a period of rehab, which will involve making her wary of humans and reconnecting her with other seals.

Jessica Collins, from Torpoint in Cornwall, is crowdfunding for Spearmint’s treatment.

She explained: “Spearmint is a wild seal who, through no fault of her own, has become habituated to humans.

“Her interest in humans grew once released as she was fed regularly by tourists. After multiple relocations she found Cawsand Bay where a team of volunteers were able to control the situation better and keep people away.

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“We all hoped she would rewild but upon discovering Plymouth this became more difficult and the feeding began once more and bad habits remained.

“She more recently started to come onto roads and was becoming a real risk to herself and others.”

Dan Jarvis, director of welfare and conservation at British Marine Life Rescue, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In Spearmint’s case here, the whole problem started when she started being fed by people in the wild, either from the pier or on boat trips last summer, unfortunately.

“Because she’s a quite a young seal, she was only a few months old at the time, this has potentially been life changing for her behaviour because it’s made her quite habituated to approaching people and interacting with them.

“We’ve heard of people trying to throw sandwiches and ice cream and doughnuts at her for example, which of course, aren’t normal things she would eat.”

RSPCA staff say that as well as refusing to eat, Spearmint also has pus coming from one of her ears.

They have given her antibiotics and she is having injections every other day.

A spokesperson said: “Naturally wild animals can find being in captivity, even for a brief time, a struggle, but our experienced team, who specialise in wildlife rehabilitation, are doing everything they can to reduce the stress for Spearmint and try to get her re-released as soon as possible.”

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