Town’s barn owls feature on TV show

Saffron Walden featured on the BBC’s The One Show when a segment on barn owls living in the Upsheres estate was shown.

The four-minute report focused on 65-year-old wildlife enthusiast Simon Huritz, who has made nesting boxes for barn owls at his home in Upsheres.

Mr Huritz works as a part-time wildlife photographer and installed the boxes in 2011 for the birds, who have been visiting since 2017 with some mating and raising owlets there.

Barn owls number around 8,000 in the UK and rarely visit urban areas.

Mr Huritz told the Reporter: "I've always lived in the countryside and had an interest in wildlife. I wanted to do my bit for wildlife when I retired and barn owls caught my imagination - I just love the birds".

The programme was filmed in July and aired on December 11.