The grey seal colony has now virtually left the beach at Donna Nook.

Over the short pupping season, from late October to late December, almost 70,000 people visited the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust-run nature reserve.

The trust said 1,435 pups were born this season, a small increase of 1.3 per cent over last year.

The unusual storm surge in late November caused massive disruption to the colony.

Trust staff and volunteers retrieved lost and disorientated pups from far and wide.

Those rescued pups were cared for by the skilled staff at Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary.

Despite everyone's best efforts, pup mortality is estimated to be twice as high as the previous year, but this will have little impact on the colony in the long term, says the trust.