The Lord Lieutenant of Cumbria visited a team of mountain rescuers to award members for over 208 combined years of service.

Ten members were presented with awards, with six being given them personally.

Peter King, team leader, was awarded for 25 years of service.

Mr King said: "Their Long Service is made up of hundreds of incidents, many, many hours of training and practice, meetings, gear packing and unpacking, and the all-important fundraising needed to support the Team."

"It was good that the commitment was recognised in this way with award certificates from the national body, Mountain Rescue England and Wales and it was excellent that Mrs Hensman, in her role as Lord Lieutenant, was able to visit our base and make these presentations."

The longest serving member was Paul Witheridge, who accumulated 31 years of service, however, he was not able to attend.

Flowers were presented to the partners of those receiving awards in recognition of the support that they and their families have given to allow them to provide this voluntary service.

Mrs Hensman said: "These volunteers make themselves available to help others, putting themselves at risk all the time and they have remarkable expertise."

David Houldridge, chair of Penrith MRT, added: "This level of commitment is fantastic in any organisation, and even more so as everyone is a volunteer.

"The rest of the team are hugely proud and grateful for the efforts by these people."