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Keeley Donovan is on the trail of the dog robbers. Latest figures reveal that 2,000 dogs are being stolen in the UK each year – the highest numbers ever. With stud dogs worth £20k, there are rich pickings for thieves. Keeley meets Michel Akintayo   whose two year old pug, Snuggles, was stolen from her home. She was lucky to finally be re-united with her much-loved dog as only one in five owners can  hope to see theirs again. Michel has never met Wayne May from Dog Lost who helped track down Snuggles, but today she’s in for a surprise. And the UK’s first pet detective, Colin Butcher, tells Keeley what we can all do to keep our dogs safe and sound.

Paul Martin is in London at the Lordship Rec, one of 27,000 urban parks which are the very lungs of our towns and cities. But they’re in trouble as cash-strapped councils slash budgets and some contemplate selling off land for development. The Rec is a shining example of how a community can safeguard these precious green havens which in London alone are reckoned to save the health service 950 billion pounds. The Rec has risen from the ashes of the Broadwater Farm estate riots just over 30 years ago to be a jewel for the local community as nature rubs shoulders with keep fit fanatics, gardeners and footballers. Coach Clasford Stirling, MBE, tells Paul how The Rec has blossomed and is creating an exciting blueprint for others to follow.

Find out more about the Broadwater Farm riots here

The North Devon village of Croyde – like so many other coastal villages all over the UK – is determined to crack down on plastics: one of the biggest environmental disasters of our time. And a shocking discovery in a cove graphically illustrates why villagers are enlisting the help of holidaymakers as they descend on the beach in their thousands. Margherita Taylor reports on Croyde campaigners doing their bit to go plastic-free.

On the Sussex Downs, Jules Hudson is in a field of lonely hearts. In a Countryfile Diaries exclusive, he’s finding out how light pollution is wrecking prospects of romance for glow worms. He’s with University of Sussex scientist and glow-worm matchmaker Craig Perl on a night-time safari in the hope of spotting one of these beetles glowing as they should. But what are the odds?

Jules reveals his top five favourite sights of summer from big boys’ toys out in the fields to some magnificent champion farm animals.