Cleethorpes: Chris Packham praises girl, 3, for saving starfish

Jessie and her mum, Heather, helped put hundreds of stranded starfish back into deeper water

Naturalist Chris Packham has praised a three-year-old girl who helped rescue hundreds of starfish washed up on Cleethorpes beach after Storm Babet.

Jessie and her mum Heather helped save about 200 of the creatures by moving them into rock pools and deep puddles.

In a social media post, the broadcaster wrote: "Young Conservationist of the Year 2023?"

"She loves life and wants it to survive and wants to fix its problems. Just brilliant - absolutely brilliant."

The broadcaster, who is well-known for presenting nature programmes, described Jessie's efforts as "brilliant"

Jessie and her mum had been walking on Cleethorpes beach on Saturday when they spotted the five-armed animals stranded on the sand.

Heather said she was "extremely proud" of her daughter's efforts to save them.

Responding to Mr Packham's post, she said Jessie "certainly does love life and she loves her animals very much".

She told all her friends at nursery about "her starfish rescue".

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue said the starfish were moved into rock pools and deep puddles

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue said: "Many [of the starfish] had already passed away but thankfully with the help of this family and that of our volunteers we were able to get around 200 alive starfish out of open air and into rock pools or deep puddles.

"We urge people not to take starfish home and do not disturb them in their rock pools or puddles."