Meet the couple of hikers living with their newborn baby in a yurt

• Watch the couple speak to presenter Jonty Messer on ITV West Country

A couple who fell in love while walking the UK's coastline have had a baby and are now living as a family in their yurt.

Chris Lewis set out to walk the entirety of the British coastline in 2017 while suffering from depression and anxiety.

But when he embarked on the charity challenge, he likely had no idea just how much his life would change.

The former paratrooper has since raised tens of thousands of pounds for armed forces charity SSAFA - and met the love of his life.

Along the way he adopted a dog before the pandemic saw him stranded on a remote Scottish island with no electricity or heating - and then he met Kate.

The couple have now welcomed baby Magnus into the world and are resting up in a yurt in Dorchester before they set off on their first hike as a family-of-three.

"If someone had said this is the way things would have panned out then I probably would have laughed at them," Chris told ITV News.

"I had an idea when I finished this walk that I wanted to come back happy, but what's happened has just been unbelievable - it was the best decision I've ever made taking those first few steps on this walk."

The couple met in Scotland while doing the North Coast 500 walk.

"I was on my own just wild camping and hiking," Kate said. "I went down to the bottom of the cliff and I met Chris camping."

The couple pitched their tents side by side and spent the entire night chatting - six weeks later, Kate joined Chris on the South West Coastal Path and they have been together ever since.

"I genuinely couldn't be happier," Chris said. "It's ironic, Kate and I own a tent and a few bits of equipment and that's it but you won't find two happier people - well, three now." 

Chris said he "wasn't in a good place" when he started his walk.

"I was never one to be able to ask for help which is probably one of the biggest reasons that got me in a mess in the first place," he said.

"But being on this walk, meeting amazing people and eventually asking for help... it was great. It was like opening a book for me, because I realised there are so many people out there who have the same and suffer with the same sort of thing."

Kate gave birth to Magnus on May 26 and the family are now staying in a tent in Dorset.

"I had to have an emergency C section and I am still in recovery, but we are hoping to set off again at the beginning of July," Kate said.

"We always joked that he might come out with a pair of hiking boots on, ready to walk already."