A POPULAR North Lancashie nature reserve is playing host to a BBC flagship show for the second year running.

Leighton Moss this week welcomed the presenters of Autumnwatch, a programme which began airing live on Tuesday.

The Gazette spoke to hosts Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games about what to expect from this year's show, filmed in 'one of the most diverse areas for wildlife in the UK'.

On Tuesday night's programme unmanned drones armed with thermal imaging cameras flew over the nature reserve to discover more about how red deer behave at night.

Martin Hughes-Games said: "This is fantastic for conservation and monitoring deer numbers. The thermal camera can look down and show how many there are here and what they do during the night."

According to Chris Packham, the purpose of the show is to overcome 'ignorance' about environmental issues.

"The core problem of environmental care is ignorance. Our objective is to overcome that with education," said the former Really Wild Show star.

"We play a vital educational role by telling people more than they already know. The more people know, the easier it is for us to ask them to care for the environment.

"I realised as an angry young man to turn that anger into something creative, to use it in a positive way to get even or win."

Leighton Moss saw a 50 per cent increase in visitors after last year's show and, because 100 per cent of its profits goes back into the nature reserve, new developments like a giant bird tower, which is expected to be finished next year, have been funded.