FREEVIEW viewers may need to re-tune their TVs in the coming weeks to continue watching their favourite shows.

Freeview channels are moving to new airwaves to allow for the future development of new mobile broadband services.

Following a decision by the Government, transmitters are being updated region by region as part of a major engineering programme being carried out between now and the middle of the year.

The final required changes in the north west region will take place in two stages on February 20 and April 22.

On February 20, engineering work will take place at the Winter Hill transmitter in Bolton in the early hours and Freeview channels will be subject to disruption until 10am.

After this, any viewers receiving their TV signal from here who find they are missing channels, including BBC One on button 1, can re-tune.

Other channels including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 will move to new airwaves on April 22.

Services from some small local relays will also be subject to disruption until late afternoon on this date.

Satellite and cable TV are not affected.

Around 2.7m homes are served by the affected transmitters.

Freeview will be running an information campaign to prepare people for the change, including advertising and on-screen messages.

The work follows the successful completion of previous updates at Winter Hill in 2018 and 2019.

Re-tuning should be straightforward and some TV equipment will re-tune automatically.

Some older aerials may need to be replaced to continue receiving all channels.

Viewers may be eligible for free in-home support, including aerial work if needed.

Project director Kate Macefield said: "Re-tuning usually only takes a few minutes but if anyone is unsure of what to do there’ll be plenty of help available on our website and from our advice line team.

"If this doesn’t bring your channels back to their usual spot then do get in touch as soon as possible – we don’t want anyone to miss out on their favourite Freeview programmes."

If you need advice, or if you are still missing services after re-tuning, visit the Freeview website at freeview.co.uk/tvchanges or contact the Freeview Advice Line free on 0808 100 0288.

For more information go to freeview.co.uk/tvchanges.