Hampshire dog lover Chris Packham has said he wants his ashes to be scattered with those of his poodles.

The naturalist and popular TV presenter explained that he wants them to be scattered together so they can “fuse together in some other life.”

The Springwatch presenter said he already has the body of one of his dogs, Itchy, in a chest freezer after it died in December 2016.

The 55 year old told a magazine that he will only get the dog cremated when he has found an "honest" crematorium, as he fears the ashes could get mixed with someone else’s pet.

He added that he needs a “framework, a plan for dealing with the death of his loved ones,” and that he contemplated suicide when his dog Fish was killed by a car.

The presenter, who lives in the New Forest said he finds it easier to have relationships with animals than humans, saying of his partner Charlotte: "Her degree of tolerance is amazing. She knows my bond with dogs is deeper and stronger than with her, but it doesn’t undermine what we have."

He added that he can "give more freely to dogs".

"They never let me down, but to maintain a human relationship you generate expectations, he said.

"That’s fallacious. Humans will let you down. It’s what we do. Animals won’t."

Chris added that he hopes mixing his ashes with his dogs will lead to them fusing together and forming new life in the form of a piece of grass or a caterpillar.

He will host a new programme called Me and My Dog from Wednesday on BBC2.