People across the country will be stargazing this weekend and Wiltshire is no different.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England is running its annual Star Count from Friday, February 17 until Friday, February 24.

The idea behind the CPRE Star Count is to gauge how good a view of the night sky can be had from all over the UK.

It is one of the largest Citizen Science activities in the country and provides invaluable data as to the state, or darkness of our night skies.

Damian OHara of Swindon Stargazers said: “We are greatly concerned regarding the state of our night skies and find their views progressively spoilt but the ever-increasing brightness of Swindon's light pollution glow.

“Many of us now find it virtually impossible to carry out any observations from our homes in Swindon and have to resort to travelling out into the countryside. Even so, we are slowly being pushed further away from Swindon in search of dark skies.

“Everyone is invited to take part and Swindon Stargazers encourage all in Swindon to have a go.

“It's especially important for children, those who will inherit our light-polluted skies unless we choose to do something about the situation.”

If you are interested in taking part, you can find the club’s website here