The story of Folkestone's involvement at the heart of Britain's spy network during the First World War will be uncovered tonight in a new documentary.

'The Spies Who Loved Folkestone' tells the story of how the town hosted spooks from the days before MI5 and MI6.

The programme will be broadcast on BBC One South East at 7.30pm this evening.

It forms part of the BBC's World War One At Home project in partnership with Imperial War Museums and is presented by author Anthony Horowitz.

The 30-minute film shows what it was like in Folkestone during the conflict which, as one of the main embarkation ports, became a hotbed of espionage.

It explores the underground world of spying, code names and secret messages, a 17-year-old who was turned into a super spy, a nanny who ran a network of female spies, and a priest who worked undercover.

The 'docu-drama' also features interviews with historians from Folkestone including Step Short trustee Michael George.

Executive Producer Linda Bell says: “The hidden world of espionage seems far removed from the lives of ordinary people, but as this programme shows, for the people of Folkestone, spies were never far away.”

The programme is on from 7.30pm to 8pm on BBC One and will be on iPlayer for seven days after.