TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has revealed she was airlifted to hospital for surgery after slipping and injuring her leg while walking home from a beach in Devon on holiday.

The Location, Location, Location host, 55, shared a photo on Instagram, external of her lying in an ambulance with cuts on her face and a breathing tube up her nose.

She explained in the adjoining caption how she had “slipped on a muddy patch on the steep path”, while walking back with her family following her birthday celebrations.

“We have a picnic on the beach at Welcombe Mouth, a swim and a walk back to the house for some cake,” she wrote of the longstanding family tradition.

It took “a whole host of people to get me to hospital”, she added.

“After a little wait while poor Oscar [her son, 18] ran as fast as he could to get help, and the RNLI Bude Lifeboat paramedics and Cornwall Air Ambulance tracked me down.”

She then asked for help identifying those who had helped her, noting how she had been given “a huge amount of painkillers” so was “high as a kite!”

“Everyone at Barnstaple hospital has been amazing, kind and caring, so many lovely people doing their absolute best.”

Allsopp is known for presenting the long-running Channel 4 property programme alongside Phil Spencer.

She confirmed she had undergone an operation on her leg – sharing pictures of her leg in bandages along with an X-ray – but would be “home soon”.

“It’ll be a boot and crutches for a while, but I feel very, very lucky that it was possible to reach me and get me to hospital so quickly, and I have a job that I can do on crutches,” she continued.

“Not a birthday I am going to forget in a hurry and again, thank you to all those who have been involved in my care.”

In the comments section of her Instagram post, fellow broadcaster and musician Jools Holland said: “Poor you get well soon.”

Property developer and husband of Princess Beatrice, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, added: “Wishing you a speedy recovery.”

Interior designer Rita Konig commented: “I have to say, I thought about this on my way down some steep paths to the beach this summer and wondered what the exit strategy is if one slips and busts something like an ankle!! Sending lots of love.”