Campaign to fix flood-damaged footpaths on popular Lake District mountain

The National Trust is asking walkers to help raise £25,000 to fix flood damage to footpaths on one of the most popular mountains in the Lake District.

Cat Bells is popular with walkers because of its proximity to the tourist hub of Keswick. It is not as high as many Lakeland fells, but that means its paths are well worn.

Volunteers maintain footpaths every year but after December's storms there's even more to do.

The floods of December brought landslides that the National Trust needs to fix.

When rain hits the top of the fells it finds the path of least resistance to the bottom, which is usually the footpath.

The top layer of vegetation has been worn away by foot traffic which means the water can strip out the soil from underneath.

It is hoped that by planting trees, their roots will stabilise the ground and stop any further erosion.

Now the charity needs £25,000 to finish the job and engineer the paths to withstand more extreme weather in the future.

Cumbrian long-distance fell runner Steve Birkinshaw thinks Cat Bells is worth the money.

He is a patron of Keswick Mountain Festival. This project is one of the charities it is supporting in May.

But this is just one fell: there are projects like this all over the Lake District.

They will be fixing the aftermath of Storm Desmond for many months to come.