West Norfolk no good for my Tesla, says Springwatch presenter Chris Packham

Chris Packham, in West Norfolk to broadcast BBC TV's Springwatch live for the next three weeks, has said the area has let him down in one crucial way.

Chris, who has been effusive in his praise for the wildlife and conservation efforts to be found at the programme's new home of Wild Ken Hill in Snettisham, has said he cannot find anywhere to charge up his electric vehicle, a Tesla, a car he "loved very much".

He told BBC Radio Norfolk's Jill Bennett: "I have a little gripe ... why is it so really difficult to charge it. There is none in King's Lynn and none in Peterborough, none along the North Norfolk coast.

"Come on Norfolk! Get some charging points in."

He said the BBC had many less people on site this year than normal, partly because of Covid factors but also in an effort to cut the carbon footprint and many o those vehicles that were there were environmentally-friendly e-cars.

Co-presenter Michaela Strachan cut-in to quip that it was a sneaky way of getting people who visited Norfolk to stay!

A check of Tesla's own website reveals seven places listed in West Norfolk to recharge from a cluster around Brancaster to Lynn and one off the A17 at Tilney All Saints.

Paul Kunes, West Norfolk Council's cabinet member for carbon reduction and climate change, said he knew there were recharging points at St James car park in Lynn and in Hunstanton andthere was a Tesla point at Tilney but he agreed that Government action was needed to help local authorities get more of them in place.

The hugely popular Springwatch is on live on BBC2 at 8pm Tuesday to Friday from this week until June 25. Michaela and Chris are at Wild Ken Hill looking at the rewilding going on at the farm there while Iolo Williams is in the Highlands of Scotland and Gillian Burke in Northern Ireland.