A MATHS teacher at Pershore High School has published the first of a sciencefiction trilogy.

Rupert Segar, who is a former BBC Countryfile presenter and Newsnight reporter, turned to science-fiction after his wife rekindled his interest with an e-reader.

His book, Means of Escape, the first volume of his Spinward trilogy has been launched on Amazon Kindle.

This millennium-spanning, galaxy-crossing, epic story is full of fast-moving action and thrilling intrigue as it follows star pilot Art King and Navy engineer Yelena Kolowski, who are on the Empire’s Most Wanted List for hijacking a tiny alien ship.

The pair travel from planet to planet trying to restore the ship’s memories and find the strange vessel’s home world.

Mr Segar says he decided to write the book after decades of false starts.

“About three years ago, Jane, my wife bought me an e-reader and it rekindled my interest in Sci-Fi,” he said. “I began to read widely and came across a lot of authors I’d never heard of before.

“Some were good but a lot were just awful. So I decided to write a book I’d like to read. Means of Escape is just that. I was determined to actually finish the book. I have tried writing novels before but have always been defeated by the enormity of the task after about 10,000 words.

“I began last summer, putting in a few hours each day. I found it difficult to keep up the effort during term-time but, fortunately, teachers’ holidays are frequent. I finished the last half of the book while in Scotland this summer.”

The book can be bought on Amazon Kindle for £1.53.