BBC presenter Chris Packham is to broadcast footage of thousands of hunters on Malta shooting millions of migratory birds in an effort to shame the government into banning the practice, The Sunday Times of London has reported.

During his Springwatch programme, Mr Packham says the killing of millions of birds has made the Mediterranean island a black hole in European conservation.

In an article "UK garden birds hit in Maltese massacre", the newspaper said that Mr Packham will be travelling to Malta this month to record hunters shooting down birds and upload the footage on nightly reports on YouTube for a week, beginning a week tomorrow.

He said his venture was inspired by war reportage and he intended to “cover this carnage like a news team reporting a war”.