Lake District plans to bid for World Heritage status

It is hoped World Heritage status would boost tourism

The Lake District is to apply for World Heritage status.

Cumbria county and district councils and the national park authority have voted to submit a bid to the international organisation, UNESCO.

The much-coveted status is held by sites including the Taj Mahal, Stonehenge, and Hadrian's Wall.

Lord Clark of Windermere, chairman of the Lake District Partnership, said the bid was based on the area's "cultural landscape".

He said: "We linked that to the great Romantics, the world of the Wordsworths.

"We also looked at the way it brought about the world environment bodies such as the National Trust.

'Special places'

"I think it is the last chance for a generation to achieve this.

"If we do get it, it will be money well spent."

Richard Greenwood from Cumbria Tourism said becoming a World Heritage Site could attract visitors from fast-growing markets like China and India.

He said: "A fair bit of research has been done and it has found that overseas the Lake District is not as well known as we perhaps think it is.

"Also, you have this new breed of global visitors, who like to go around the world ticking off very special places, and world heritage sites are the first on the list."