Minister agrees to MP’s calls for Lakes marketing campaign following rail chaos

Local MP Tim Farron has welcomed commitments from the Government to get Northern Rail to fund a marketing campaign for the Lake District.

There has been fears that the recent turmoil on the railways has led to severe reputational damage for Britain's second biggest tourist destination.

Yesterday in the House of Commons, the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced that the Government would be taking forward Tim's suggestions for there to be a marketing campaign for the Lake District.

During this morning's debate in Parliament on the future of rail services in Cumbria, the rail minister Jo Johnson also confirmed that that Northern would be funding the campaign.

Tim said: "There can be no doubt that the last few months have had a really negative impact on the Lake District's reputation.

"What's really important, following our success of getting trains back on the rails on the Lakes Line this week, is to send out a clear message that the Lake District is very much open for business

"I'm extremely grateful to Gill Haigh at Cumbria Tourism for putting forward a detailed plan for a medium-term campaign and to ministers for backing it so that the Lake District continues to be a great place for people to visit and spend money."