Cumbria's residents undergo cruel run of tragedy

Cumbria and the Lake District is one of the UK's, and the world's, great tourist areas.

Around 14 million people are drawn each year to the wonderful landscape that includes lakes, mountains and a superb coastline.

Yet Cumbria has been cruelly singled out in recent months, with the area enduring an unfair share of tragedy.

Last November, flooding devastated the area. Then, last week, two teenagers were killed in a horrific Cumbria coach crash.

Celia MacKenzie, chief executive of Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, whose job is to promote tourism, said: "Cumbria has had some real kicks in the teeth in the last six months."

The floods of last November affected hundreds of homes and scores of people were left without power.

Two of the worst-hit towns were Workington and Cockermouth, where the Northside Bridge was swept away, claiming the life of PC Bill Barker.

Cockermouth was the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth, who has done much to introduce the joys of the Lake District to a public that had previously regarded the countryside as a dangerous, alien place.

The November 2009 flooding saw Cumbria hit by a record 12in of rain in one day in what was described as a once-in-a-thousand years event.

As the clean-up operation after the flooding continued, the country was hit by the worst winter in 30 years.

The recent coach crash happened on 26 May when a 49-seat school coach was in a collision with a car on the A66 near Keswick.

Chloe Walker was killed on her 16th birthday, while Kieran Goulding, 15, also died in the crash, which also claimed the life of the car driver.