A Cumbrian charity says it has raised thousands of pounds from collecting unwanted Christmas trees.

Hospice at Home is collecting the trees from areas including Carlisle, Penrith, Wigton, Keswick, and Silloth, taking them for recycling and asking for a small donation from householders.

Image source, Getty

A number of Cumbria's councils will also collect the trees, if you live outside the area covered by Hospice at Home.

The offences are alleged to have taken between 2016 and 2017 at businesses in Cumbria.

News and Star
Newspaper

Motorists are being warned they will be prosecuted after police caught a string of Cumbrian drivers doing hair-raising speeds, external on county roads.

Image source, News and Star

Jade Taylorson
BBC Cumbria reporter

Cumbria's fire and rescue service is trying to fill 50 vacancies for on-call firefighters.

On-call staff don't work for the fire service full time, but can be called away from their everyday jobs to respond to emergencies.

All this week the county's fire service is taking part in a national drive to recruit more firefighters, with staff stressing that they do not need to be particularly strong or fit.

A remote house near Great Musgrave was badly damaged in a serious fire last night.

Fire crews from Appleby, Kirkby Stephen and Shap were called to the house, near Great Musgrave, west of Brough, at about 18:20 after the fire broke out in the roof and started spreading to the house.

Firefighters were at the scene for five hours. No one was hurt.

If the thrills and spills of the FA Cup third-round action have got you excited - how about getting a flavour of it yourself?

The 2019 FA People's Cup is now open for entries.

There's no experience required, it's free and you get the chance to play at St George's Park and lift a trophy during the FA Cup final in May.

Don't take our word for it - have a look at how these players felt about taking part in 2018...

Find out more about the competition and how you can get involved here.

News and Star
Newspaper

Filming for an American TV series is due to take place in the Lake District, external this month.

BBC News Travel

The A592 is closed south of Bowness from this week for three months from Ferry Nab through to Birks Road, near Newby Bridge.

Heavy vehicles face a lengthy diversion past Kendal until 7 April while roadworks take place.

Cumbria's Museum of Military Life, external in Carlisle Castle has been given a grant of £20,000 to collect stories of service life in Afghanistan.

Image source, PA

Museum staff are now looking for volunteers both to contribute to an exhibition and help curate what goes on show.

The plan is to curate a permanent archive so the museum has a record of modern conflicts as well as historic campaigns.

A rapist who filmed parts of his attack on a mother while her child was asleep in another room in the house has been jailed for more than 13 years.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Paul Fuller, 37, of Greenhill, Brampton, admitted two counts of rape, four further sexual offences and three counts of possession of an offensive weapon.

Image source, Cumbria Police

The court heard Fuller had gone to the house with knives, a meat cleaver and a baton.

Police welcomed the sentence, with Det Ch Insp Helen Harkins saying: “I hope this prison sentence sends out a strong message to the public that these offences will be thoroughly investigated and no stone left unturned until offenders are brought to justice.”

BBC News Travel

Police say the A689 at Kingmoor Park will be closed for some time.

Police say a driver died in the crash between a car and a lorry that blocked the northbound carriageway for much of yesterday.

The accident, at 11:15 yesterday, involved a Renault Megane and a Scania articulated lorry just south of of junction 37.

Fire crews from Kendal, Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale spent more than an hour at the scene cutting the driver of the Megane free, but he was confirmed dead at the scene.

Police have as yet released no further details but say they are working with a family from outside the Cumbria area.

BBC Weather

It will be a bright and breezy day with sunny spells, hazy at first, not as mild as yesterday with a maximum temperature of 8C (46F).

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

Calthwaite C of E School will be closed until tomorrow because the boiler has failed during the Christmas holiday and the school has no heating.

BBC News Travel

Airport staff at Newcastle and Manchester say passengers planning flights to Amsterdam should check before travelling.

Some KLM flights have been cancelled because of bad weather.

Martin Lewes
Reporter

Good morning: We'll be posting news from around the county, a regular weather forecast, and other useful and interesting information through the day.

If you've got any stories or photos to share, let us know by sending us an email, getting in touch on Facebook, external, or on Twitter, external.

Martin Lewes
Reporter

We've now stepped back to let the software post any major breaking news or travel reports through the night.

Here's a reminder of some of today's main developments:

• Cumbria County Council said it was completing 86% of the plans the law requires for providing special education to youngsters with disabilities within a 20-week time limit, which was a better-than-average performance
• The man in charge of the trusts controlling hospitals in north Cumbria and community health services across the county promised patients would notice the changes in the new NHS 10-year plan
• And it may be more than 300 miles away, but surely only one haulage firm could provide the lead vehicles in a big trial of traffic control on the approaches to Dover if new customs checks after Brexit cause serious delays... bring on the Eddie Stobart wagons!

We'll be back from 08:00 to do it again.

If you've got any stories or photos to share, let us know by sending us an email, getting in touch on Facebook, external, or on Twitter, external.

BBC Weather

There will be brisk north-westerly winds through tonight with some clear spells.

It will be rather chilly but in general, staying dry with lowest temperatures from 0C to 3C (32F to 37F).

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

Three men are to face trial on modern slavery charges in October after denying conspiracy to require people to perform forced labour at car washes in Carlisle and Penrith.

A half-hour hearing this morning at Carlisle Crown Court was told the charges cover a nine-month period running up to June 2017.

Sitar Hamid Ali, 30, of Adelaide Street, Carlisle, Defrim Paci, 39, of Windmill Close, Sutton-in-Ashfield, near Mansfield, and 35-year-old Jetmir Paci of Walton Walk, Boythorpe, Chesterfield, were all bailed to another hearing in September.

The three also deny conspiracy to arrange travel for people with a view to exploitation, and Mr Ali denies an additional charge of possession of criminal property, namely cash, in May 2017.

A Barrow primary school has been told to improve by the regulator.

In an inspection carried out in November 2018, St Pius Catholic Primary School was rated as "requires improvement" by Ofsted, after it had previously been rated as "good".

The inspectors found standards had declined and the progress of pupils aged between seven and 11 in reading, writing and maths was often significantly below the national average.

Image source, Google