Breakfast DJ Robbie Dee has spoken of his battle with depression and anxiety - saying at one point he thought about ending it all.

The CFM presenter said he hit rock bottom when he couldn't hold a conversation without crying.

Robbie, a familiar voice to thousands during years as the biggest star on the station, returned to work this week after seeking professional help.

In a strikingly brave interview, he touches on the debilitating effects of depression - and urges others in a similar position not to bottle it up.

Robbie said: “I have had some dark days where I felt very low and on some of those days I couldn’t see anything good about the day - nothing positive at all.

“I had days like that occasionally but as time went on they started to become more and more regular.

"The happy days became less and the sad days became more.”

The normally outgoing, bubbly, cheerful dad-of-two - also renowned in Cumbria as a regular star of The Sands Centre pantomime - has been one of the main presenters at CFM for the last 14 years.

Robbie, 56, said: “I felt like I was Chinese plate spinning as I had so much going on and one of the plates came crashing down and I started getting irritable with my wife and my children.

“I felt as though I was rubbish at my job. I felt I was not a good husband or a good dad and I wasn’t thinking highly of myself at all.

“It got to the point where I felt as though maybe I didn’t need to be here anymore.”

That was the turning point for Robbie and he went and sought professional help.

He said: “I felt that there was no reason for me to stick around.

"I frightened myself but soon came to my senses.

"I have a beautiful wife and two beautiful children and I have an awful lot to live for.”

Robbie sought medical advice from a doctor and counsellor.

He took tests for anxiety and depression, the results of which indicated that he needed help.

He said: “One of the questions they ask you is that if you didn’t want to be here anymore had you planned how you would do it?

“I was thinking about how to do it and that is a dangerous place to be.

“I don’t seriously think I would have done anything to myself. I realised it was wrong to be thinking like that.”

Robbie took time out from his job and spent time at home with his family.

He said: “I declined medication and instead I did the school run every day. I went out running in the country lanes near my house.

"Exercise, time with the family and the time out of the spotlight did me the world of good.”

He added: “The best thing I have ever done was to talk about it. The hardest thing is to admit to yourself that you have a problem.

“I feel so much better for getting it off my chest. It’s a relief.

Robbie, who was speaking in the same week as World Mental Health Day was held, said: “The support I have had has been incredible.

“So many people want to support me and help me and tell me about their own experiences.

“You come to realise that it’s a widespread thing.

"If you break your arm or your leg then it’s a physical thing and you can see it but this is on the inside.

“You just have to realise that life is good and there is happiness to be had.”