Council 'committed' to tackling lake littering

Ullswater is a popular spot with Lake District visitors

A council says it is committed to tackling illegal camping and littering around England's second-largest lake and will consider introducing extra measures if deemed "appropriate" and backed by the community.

Westmorland and Furness Council leader Jonathan Brook said the authority was "open to proposals" to impose public space protection orders (PSPOs) around Ullswater which would give officials the power to issue fines.

Brook's comments were in response to criticism by Cumbria's police, fire and crime commissioner, David Allen.

Allen last month warned the council not having included Ullswater in a consultation into extending PSPOs at trouble hot-spots was a "missed opportunity".

Anyone who admits breaching an order can be issued with a £100 fine, while court action can see the penalty rise to £1,000.

Worries around littering and illegal camping have heightened in recent months, with one conservation charity warning the Lake District had been hit by an "epidemic".

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In a public letter dated 20 August, Allen said he welcomed the council's proposal to have PSPOs covering Windermere West Shore, Coniston Water East Shore and Blea Tarn.

But he cautioned Ullswater was also seeing "persistent and well-documented issues with fly camping, littering and fires".

Like other areas in the national park, Ullswater is seeing issues with rubbish and people camping where they are not allowed to

In a letter of his own, Brook said the council recognised the concerns of residents and landowners and was "committed to working collaboratively with partners" to address them through patrols and other steps.

He explained the authority had launched the consultation on PSPOs around Coniston, Windermere and Blea Tarn having been asked to do so by the National Trust, which owns the land.

No such request had been made at Ullswater, he said, although the council had "met with local representatives to discuss the issues, locations, land ownership and what the council and other agencies could do".

He described the organisation as being "open to proposals to look to extend PSPOs if that is deemed appropriate and is supported locally".

Brook added "taking a targeted approach...means that we can focus our available enforcement resources in area of identified need rather than attempting to cover the entirety of a huge area under a district-wide PSPO".

Disputing a further point made by Allen, he said Westmorland and Furness Council and neighbouring Cumberland Council "have a similar number of officers employed with PSPO enforcement powers".