A SPECTACULAR outdoor exhibition of wildlife photography designed to highlight the importance of healthy ecostystems is to tour Morecambe Bay this summer.

One hundred panels of images of wildlife and nature will be unveiled by the Morecambe Bay Partnership at the Arena on Morecambe seafront from May 20 until June 29.

The display will then move on to Barrow-in-Furness (July 1 – August 2) and finally to Grange-over-Sands (August 5-29).

The 2020VISION Roadshow has visited London's South Bank, Edinburgh Botanical Gardens and Brighton Promenade but this will be the first time it has been to the North West.

The images were captured over 20 months by 20 top nature photo-graphers, including Andy Rouse, Peter Cairns and European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Alex Mustard.

The exhibition will be accompanied by two theatre shows and a workshop with photographer Ben Hall.

Morecambe Bay was selected for inclusion in the project because of the ‘biodiversity’ of the area.

Bringing the roadshow to the area is part of Morecambe Bay Partnership's 700 Days Scheme, funded by £0.5m from the Coastal Communities Fund.

Designed to support more than 260 tourism-related jobs, the funding will also be used to connect and sign a 200km ‘Bay Cycle Way’, develop maps, trails and apps to improve information for visitors and provide more than 300 training places to support tourism firms. Further funding has been provided through the Morecambe Bay Local Nature Partnership's nature improvement area, a project led by the Arnside and Silverdale AONB, which aims to improve and connect up the area’s special wetland, limestone grassland and woodland habitats, as well as supporting wildlife tourism.

Susannah Bleakley, of Morecambe Bay Partnership, said: “2020 VISION is a world-class event and we are delighted to be bringing it to the North West for the first time.

“Not only will it be a wonderful experience for locals, but it will undoubtedly bring hundreds of new visitors to the Bay.”