A petition started by a Carlisle man to reduce the number of plastic bags used once and thrown away in Britain, which gathered 125,000 signatures, external, has been debated in Westminster Hall in Parliament.

Image source, HoC

Opening the debate, the Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, Steve Double, said that there had been a "rapid rise" in production of plastic in recent decades.

A lot of packaging is disposed of "within minutes of being used", he says, and "every piece of plastic will take decades to degrade".

It was estimated by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish, he said, and humans would then ingest plastic by eating fish in the sea.

But nine billion fewer plastic bags have been used since introducing the 5p carrier bag charge, he said.

The Highways Agency is publicising the rear-facing cameras on its motorway patrol cars, after a driver was photographed waving both his arms out of the window of his BMW and driving too close behind a rolling roadblock.

Image source, Highways England

Carlisle magistrates were told Jeremy Dillon, 51, of Hespek Raise, Carlisle, gave highways officers the impression he was trying to get past the roadblock, which was set up to allow other officers to clear an obstruction.

Dillon at first denied careless driving, but accepted he was too close behind when he was shown footage from the camera.

Dillon wrote to the court admitting careless driving and was fined £286 in his absence, with £115 surcharge and costs, and six points on his licence.

The Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock has accused the government of throwing the people of Cumbria under a bus by not giving plans for a new nuclear power station at Moorside more support.

The £15bn project collapsed last week after the troubled Japanese technology giant Toshiba said it was pulling out of the company set up to develop the huge plant, NuGen.

The Business Secretary Greg Clark, invited by John Woodcock (pictured) to make an emergency statement, said it was a commercial decision, the site would still be available for other developers and west Cumbria's nuclear industry would still thrive.

Image source, HoC

The Conservative MP for Copeland, Trudy Harrison, sought assurances.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Ellis Butcher

The cost of repairs to Mallard, the Windermere car ferry, after a fire put it out of action for five months, has been revealed to be £100,000.

The loss to the council of having the ferry out of service for five months was put at £320,000

A report going before councillors next week, external says that the fire began when a hydraulic hose burst in the engine room spraying fluid a hot engine.

The report says the decision to replace the engine, rather than repair it, was taken on the advice of loss adjusters as better value for money.

It took three months to build the new engine and make other repairs and a fourth month to install and commission all the systems.

Sara Dumbell
Journalist, BBC Radio Cumbria

A mother of four from Workington and her partner are calling for more cervical cancer screening for younger women after she was diagnosed with an incurable case of the disease.

Image source, Susan Rumney

Susan Rumney, 26, and Jay Clarke say they have been overwhelmed by public generosity after an online fundraising page, external raised nearly £7,000 to support the family and cover the cost of them getting married.

Doctors say the cancer does not normally develop until later in life and under the age of 25 the cells in the cervix do not look normal because they are immature, so abnormality would not be easy to spot.

Susan says her pains had previously been misdiagnosed as constipation and sciatica, but an MRI scan revealed that she had cervical cancer

Doctors, she says, should not rule out cancer in younger women and women offered a smear test should take it.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
John Connell

More than one business has expressed interest in running Carlisle's Stony Holme golf course and swifts Driving Range, a city council meeting has been told.

The facilities were run by Mack Golf and closed when the company ceased trading just over a month ago.

Hundreds of players petitioned Carlisle City Council to reopen the course, but the council leader, Colin Glover, would only say that officers were "looking at all potential options", pledging to maintain the course over the winter.

However the deputy leader, Councillor Les Ticker, said: "We are in talks with more than one operator to run the course and the clubhouse. We are fully committed to keeping it as a golf course."

The Stony Holme Captain Martin Thompson said: "I felt a lot more positive after the meeting than I expected."

The first few of a huge order for howitzers produced by BAE Systems in Barrow have been formally accepted by the Indian Army

Image source, BAE Systems

The first 25 of the 145 specially-adapted M777s, external (artist's impression pictured) that the Indians will eventually take are being delivered complete, with the remaining artillery pieces to be assembled in India.

When the order is complete, more than 1,250 will be in services with armies including the United States and Australia.

The guns, which saw extensive service in Afghanistan, were initially developed for the US Marines and Army and can throw a 155mm shell up to 18 miles, landing within 10m of the target.

Pallab Ghosh
Science correspondent, BBC News

A campaigning group of vets has accused the environment and food department Defra of "barefaced lies" about the effects of the culls of badgers which were extended to Cumbria this year after an outbreak of bovine TB in the county.

The department claimed this year that in the areas where the culls started, in Somerset and Gloucestershire, figures for TB in cattle showed a decline.

But Dr Iain McGill, a veterinary surgeon and director of Prion Interest Group, external, told BBC News that claims by Defra were not supported by scientific evidence.

Image source, Reuters

BBC Weather Watchers

The showers just keep coming at the moment, but it is mild enough to keep the grass green even as bracken turns vivid orange in this shot of Crummock Water by BBC Weather Watcher Tim Nobes.

Image source, @Tim_Nobes

Our thanks to Tim. If you've a photo you want to share, you can email it to us,tweet us @BBC_Cumbria, external, or contact us via Facebook, external.

Sir Cliff Richard is going to perform in Cumbria next year.

Image source, Getty Images

He is appearing at Cartmel Racecourse on 28 June and the first tickets will go on sale, external on Sunday morning at 10:00.

A pensioner who injured his ankle in a fall on Green Gable in the Lake District was helped by members of several mountain rescue teams, some breaking away from Remembrance Day events.

Image source, Cockermouth MRT

Volunteers from the Cockermouth team were about to join the town's parade when the call came in, and other team members from Keswick and Wasdale, who were taking part in the traditional gathering on top of Great Gable, also assisted.

The man, in his 70s, was flown to Cumberland Infirmary at Carlisle by a Coastguard helicopter.

Police in Whitehaven are warning that a large quantity of medication stolen by teenagers could do serious harm to anyone who takes it.

A group of youngsters aged between 13 and 16 are thought to have broken into a house in Cambridge Road between 20:00 and midnight last Thursday 9 November.

Officers say they damaged the house and also stole electrical equipment and a large quantity of alcohol.

What's the best way to get your mitts on the king of precious metals?

Martin Lewes
Reporter

Passengers arriving by car when they could have caught the train have prompted the Friends of the Settle-Carlisle line to add Leeds to the brand.

Image source, Drew Haley

The group broke the news with a new front page on their newsletter, on the Leeds platform where almost all passenger trains travelling across the famous railway line start their journey.

BBC Weather

There will be plenty of showers through this afternoon, with some of the showers likely to be heavy and prolonged with a chance of thunder.

There is a chance of sunshine in between the showers and the winds will be brisk southerlies, with temperatures reaching up to 8C to 11C (46F to 52F).

You can find the latest BBC weather forecast for where you are here.

Work is starting to replace 5km of gas pipes in a west Cumbrian village.

Northern Gas Networks, which is carrying out the work in and around Seaton Main Road, says it could lead to some travel disruption over the next four months.

Only five Talisman steam engines have been made before this one.

Police say a man was knocked unconscious at a taxi rank in Carlisle last night.

It happened at the Court Square taxi rank, between 21:30 and 22:00.

The man was punched in the face and hit his head on the kerb as he fell.

Officers say it is possible taxi drivers have dashcam footage of the incident.

Image source, Google

A Cumbrian man's petition to reduce the amount of plastic bags in use across the country, external will be debated in Parliament today.

Edmund Pendrous from Carlisle is calling on the Government to push supermarkets towards offering fresh fruit and vegetables with eco-friendly packaging.

So far, more than 124,000 people have signed the petition.

The Government says it is working with retailers to explore options for plastic-free packaging.

Image source, Getty Images

A Cumbrian man is among the 250,000 in California who have had to leave their homes because of raging wildfires.

Peter Sellar grew up near Kendal and had only just moved to his new home in the state.

Image source, EPA

Speaking on BBC Radio Cumbria this morning, Mr Sellar said he and his family were now living with other family members, with no idea what happened to their house.