THE beauty of west Dorset was showcased on national television.

'Kate Humble's Coastal Britain' follows the presenter as she travels around the shores and uncovers local stories.

The most recent episode of the Channel 5 travel programme, which aired on Friday, March 5 saw Humble explore some of the Jurassic Coast's best paths - which led her through Lyme Regis and Charmouth.

The episode is available on catch up on Channel 5's streaming service, My5.

The episode sees the presenter walk a 13-mile stretch of the South West Coast Path. She begins in Charmouth before moving on to Lyme Regis, discovering the lengths and costs engineers have gone to in order to protect the town, before visiting the town mill which is listed in the Doomsday Book. She then continues into Devon, finishing her walk at Beer Point.

Humble, who specialises in wildlife and science programmes, was spotted in Lyme Regis last summer with a film crew and residents noted that she had paid a visit to the Lyme Regis Brewery, along with the town mill.

During the show she visits a familiar haunt on a fossil-hunting mission, having spent time in Lyme Regis as a child. This leads to her reminiscing about a time that she followed the trail of 19th century palaeontologist Mary Anning.

She said: "I love her story. At a time when women were overlooked and left to do the laundry, there was this incredible woman who managed to find an ichthyosaur fossil."

Returning to the area as an adult, Humble says she developed a new appreciation for the skills of fossil hunters.

She explained: "It's easy to assume these guys and women are lucky and stumble over rocks. But they know exactly how storms and erosion can reveal extraordinary things.

"They have a superhuman vision to see a shape in the rock that might contain a fossil. It was fascinating to learn about what our land hides and how people's knowledge has been built up to reveal it."