Martin Lewes
Reporter

That's all from BBC Cumbria Live for 3 December 2015.  Have a good evening. We'll be back from 08:00 on Friday.

In the meantime, we do like to see your pictures and comments. Send them to us by email, tweet us @BBC_Cumbria, external or join our Facebook page, external.  

Rain will clear to the east through the evening, although some may persist over higher ground. 

There are flood alerts - the lowest level of concern - covering most of the county's rivers, external. 

Otherwise a dry night with the winds slowly easing.  Minimum temperature: 2C (36F)

You can check the latest forecast where you are here.

BBC Radio Cumbria

Two of the county's Labour MP's have described why they voted in differing ways last night in the debate over extending British air strikes to include Syria as well as Iraq.  

Image source, Labour Party

North West Evening Mail
Newspaper

Ofsted has warned about the North-South divide in secondary education, but Cumbria's secondary schools are improving.  , external

Two members of a farming family have been warned they may be sent to prison after police used "identity parades" to reunite sheep with their rightful owners.

Teeside Crown Court heard 16 farmers, including some from Cumbria, were able to identify their sheep although markers such as ear tags had been removed.

Charles Raine, 66, and his nephew Phillip, 46, who farm near Bowes, were both convicted of conspiracy to use criminal property. They'll be sentenced in the new year.

Phillip's partner Shirley Straughan, 41, was cleared of the same charge.

Government ministers are also getting twice-weekly reports on North Cumbria's struggling hospitals.

The trust that runs hospitals in Carlisle and Whitehaven is one of only three in the country to be involved in a special "success regime" system.

In an interview with BBC Radio Cumbria, health minister Ben Gummer said: "I have an update twice a week and one of those meetings is with the secretary of state. 

"The key to success is the review of the whole system that's taking place at the moment. We will have an assessment of what needs to be fixed very soon."

BBC Radio Cumbria

A health minister has welcomed the news that South Cumbria's hospitals are ready to come out of special measures. 

The Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which runs the Furness General in Barrow and the Westmorland General in Kendal, was put in special measures last year because of concerns about a number of services.

The latest inspection report says improvements have been made but many more are needed. 

Ben Gummer, the minister for care quality, told Ben Maeder for BBC Radio Cumbria's News Hour: "This is part of a journey, a long one, but what the CQC is saying today is that the trust has turned a corner, pointed in the right direction, and made a long stride forward."

Paul Newton
Sports Editor, BBC Cumbria

Barrow AFC manager Paul Cox has recalled midfielder Mo Fofana from his loan spell at Oxford City because of mounting injury problems.

The Bluebirds boss has revealed he has several injury concerns ahead of Saturday’s visit of Boreham Wood in the National League.  

Cumbria Live
Magazine

The first Iranian vampire western, the weird and wonderful imagination of a grandfather and one of the best jazz movies made all feature at next year’s Keswick Film Festival., external

BBC Travel

There's flooding again on the A590 in Lindal in Furness between the Ulverston Road junction and the Green Lane junction.  

Eight flood alerts - the lowest level of concern - and one flood warning have been issued for Cumbria by the Environment Agency, external.

They cover most of the rivers in the county. The warning refers to Keswick campsite.

Fire crews spent seven hours fighting a blaze at a farmhouse which had been converted into holiday homes., external

Five fire engines and an aerial platform were used to fight the fire on Newlands fell, between Buttermere and Braithwaite.

The first alarm was raised at 01:42.  Fire fighters were at the scene until after 09:00. A spokeswoman said significant damage had been caused to the buildings,

North West Evening Mail
Newspaper

A man has been arrested on suspicion of firearms offences after armed police were called to Barrow shipyard., external

A buyer may have been found for one of Penrith's historic council-owned buildings.

Image source, Google

But Eden council may not get as much as councillors had hoped from the two companies that have expressed an interest in the Mansion House.  

The council wants to sell off the listed building and move staff out into an expanded office at Penrith town hall. The latest offers will be considered this evening., external

The 19th Century house went on the market three years ago with offers expected of about £1.1m. But the council now values it at just £625,000.

Hospital managers at the trust that runs South Cumbria's hospitals say they accept the latest report by inspectors.

The Care Quality Commission's latest report says the hospitals have improved enough to come out of special measures., external

Image source, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Trust

Pearse Butler, the trust's chairman, added: "There is still a lot more hard work required to make further, sustainable change across our hospitals, and today’s report is recognition that good progress is being made and that we are heading in the right direction."

The rain will continue to spread through Cumbria - becoming heavier and persistent. Temperatures today will reach 46F (8C).

You can check the latest forecast where you are here.

Officers from Cumbria's serious organised crime department have been describing how they spent six months tracking down the way a solicitor was taking money from clients' accounts.

Image source, Cumbria police

Today a judge at Carlisle Crown Court jailed Stephen Ellis for five years. He admitted frauds and other offences.

Superintendent Rob O’Connor thanked clients who'd allowed officers to examine their accounts.He said Ellis lived a lavish lifestyle on money that was not his.

Update: The Barrow lifeboat is not involved in a search for a missing plane in the Irish Sea.

Lifeboats from Lancashire and a coastguard helicopter from Caerrnafon are involved after the aircraft, which took off from The Isle of Man for Blackpool, disappeared from radar screens on its approach to land.

A South Cumbria solicitor has been jailed for five years after admitting defrauding customers of £218,000.  

Carlisle Crown Court heard Stephen Ellis, 43, scammed clients including the Holker Estates and major local businesses to try to keep his practice afloat.

He admitted nine counts of fraud, one of false accounting, and one of making a false representation to creditors.

Jailing Ellis for five years, Judge Peter Hughes said the solicitor, who used to live in Howgill, near Sedbergh, but has now moved to Cheshire, was guilty of "out-and-out dishonesty".