Liberal Democrat councillors in Kendal have got the ball rolling on a campaign to improve footpaths in the town.

At a meeting of Kendal Town Council's Environment and Highways Committee this week, Lib Dem Chair Eamonn Hennessy and Vice Chair Giles Archibald proposed to allocate £12,000 to fund an audit of local footpaths.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron was quizzed by children from 15 local primary schools at a recent meeting of the South Lakes Pupil Parliament at the Netherwood Hotel in Grange.

Questions ranged from why Tim became an MP, to what can be done to tackle climate change, to whether or not Tim likes pineapple on his pizza.

Last night in Parliament, local MP Tim Farron voted against controversial changes to how much people have to pay for their social care.

The Health and Social Care Bill calls for an £86,000 cap on how much anyone has to pay for social care.

Until last week, people thought financial support from local authorities would count towards that sum.

On the floor of the House of Commons this afternoon, Home Secretary Priti Patel agreed to meet with local MP Tim Farron and Lake District hospitality leaders to address the urgent staffing crisis in the industry.

The latest research conducted by Cumbria Tourism found that 85% of businesses in the sector are struggling with recruitment issues.

Last night, South Lakes MP Tim Farron voted in favour of a motion to ban MPs from taking second jobs amid the ongoing row about Conservative Party sleaze.

The plans would see MPs prevented from taking paid consultancies or directorships.

However the motion was voted down by Conservative MPs by 231 votes to 282 votes.