Why DO Countryfile keep rejecting my photos?

STALWART: Show legend John Craven HORSEPLAY: But where could be lovelier? TREE- HUGGER: Lee loves this shot – why didn’t Countryfile? THE BBC Countryfile Photography Contest has become a national institution – like Last Night of the Proms and stabbing each other in the guts.

Viewers of the Sunday evening rural affair programme are invited to submit photos of the British countryside to be examined by a panel of judges.

The 12 photos selected by the experts appear each year in the Countryfile Calendar – sold in aid of the BBC Children In Need appeal.

For the past five years, keen amateur natural history photographer Lee Spence has entered the competition but despite all his mates saying his photos are lovely, he’s not won a single thing.

Lee, 35, said: “I just can’t understand it. None of my photos have even been shown on the programme and they show loads of other people’s entries.

“I just can’t understand why none of my scenes are shown.”

Lee, who has won many prizes in other photo competitions in and around his home town of Biddulph, Staffs, fears that there may be sinister motives behind him being snubbed by John’s Craven’s show.

He said: “I think it is well known that I’m a supporter of Brexit. Might the BBC be snubbing my entries because of that? Well, you never know…”

A Countryfile source sighed: “The rules of the competition and plain common sense dictate which photos are and are not suitable for entry.

“Brexit bias indeed!” FIELD OF DREAMS: Lee has a knack with the camera LAKE PLACID: Serene scene would be perfect for a calendar BAFFLED: Natural history fan Lee Spence