Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has opened up about his struggle with depression and revealed that he has nearly killed himself twice.

Packham, 54, who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in his twenties, described his depression as a "great, hopeless vacuum".

Speaking to The Times, Packham said that he was stopped from killing himself in 2003, at the age of 42, because he didn't want to leave behind his two dogs, poodles Itchy and Scratch, or hurt his family.

He also admits he "didn't have enough drugs to be sure it would work. I wouldn't want to make a bad job of suicide".

In his new memoir, Fingers In The Sparkle Jar, 53-year-old Packham dismisses the idea that suicide is selfish.

The TV presenter also described being bullied mentally and physically as "the weird kid" when a teenager.

"I didn't understand that I was different. I didn't understand why I was being rejected. I didn't get invited to parties. I didn't fit in."

Packham, who lives in the New Forest with his partner Charlotte Corney, the owner of the Isle of Wight Zoo, says he has no friends but is close to an ex partner and her daughter.

He remains devoted to the preservation of the natural world and he is firmly against fox-hunting, saying that killing something for pleasure has a "psychopathic element" to it.