An antiques expert from Cumbria has returned to her home county to film the latest series of a BBC TV show.

Former Cockermouth School pupil Stephanie Connell will star in Antiques Road Trip when it airs later this year.

It will be her second stint on the show, which see antiques experts embark on a UK road trip, searching for treasures and competing to make the most money at auction.

Unbeknown to Stephanie when she signed up, filming for the new series has been largely focused on Cumbria and south west Scotland.

“They don’t tell you much beforehand. You don’t know which shops you are going to be visiting or where the auctions are, but they said I’d be staying in a hotel in Cockermouth. They didn’t know I was from the area, so it was a complete coincidence. I nearly fell off my chair,” she said.

Although she now lives in Surrey, Stephanie spent her childhood in west Cumbria, where her parents still live. The first step of her antiques career was at Mitchell’s auction house in Cockermouth.

“I was there for two-and-a-half years, as a general valuer and auctioneer,” she said.

Keen to work at a big London auction house, Stephanie moved to Bonhams in 2005 and worked her way up to director of sales. During her time there, she worked on some high-profile sales - including one for Beatles star George Harrison’s family, another for the BBC Doctor Who archive and a big sale in New York for rock legend Eric Clapton.

Stephanie left Bonhams in 2014 to set up her own business - www.stephanieconnell.com. She now works as an antiques dealer, freelance valuer and consultant, specialising in posters, illustration art and rare Royal memorabilia

“I like items of interesting provenance, or that are unique,” she said.

Her TV career came about through chance. “I’d done some bits of TV before. I did the Antiques Roadshow when I was at Bonhams. I’ve also been on the One Show and BBC Breakfast a few times,” she said. “One day I got a call, completely out of the blue, from the producers of Antiques Road Trip. They said I’d been recommended and asked if I’d be interested.”

Stephanie submitted a Whatsapp video, then was invited in for an interview the next day.

“I did a show reel, then they asked if I’d be on it. That was about 18 months ago.”

Her first series, in which she appeared with fellow expert Charlie Ross, was filmed last autumn and aired in January.

“It was brilliant, I loved being part of it. Then they asked if I’d do another series, and weirdly the place we started at was Cockermouth.”

In the upcoming series she has been paired with antiques expert Phil Serrell. It will see her drive around the area in a classic car, visiting a host local antiques shops, auctions and historic sites.

She said: “It was really great to be filming in Cumbria, but also a bit surreal.

“You think back to when you were little. If someone had told me then I’d be driving around Cockermouth in a classic car filming a TV show, I wouldn’t have believed it. We drove right past Cockermouth School and Fairfield, which was my primary school.

“I can’t give anything away. People will have to watch to find out what happened, but it was brilliant fun and everyone we met was really welcoming.

Antiques Road Trip is produced for BBC One by STV Productions. This series will air later this year.

Producer John Redshaw said: “Steph has a great eye for unusual and quirky pieces and we’re delighted to again have her on board as a regular expert on Antiques Road Trip.”