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Live Reporting

Martin Lewes

All times stated are UK

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  1. Across the day: BBC Cumbria Live

    Martin Lewes

    Reporter

    One story has dominated today in Cumbria -  the fire that destroyed an historic Barrow working men's club started the day, and the beginning of demolition work on what remained was in the news this afternoon.

    For anyone on the road, the travel news was busy with the first widespread snow of the winter.

    We'll be back tomorrow from 08:00 with whatever the weather's thrown at us over night, and the rest of the news, travel reports, and anything else that catches our fancy.

    If you have a picture to share or some news you think we should know about, you can email ustweet us or get in touch through our Facebook page.     

    Have a very good evening.

  2. Cumbria's weather: More wintry showers

    BBC Weather

    Further sleet and snow showers are expected tonight, with possibly a spell of more widespread rain, sleet and snow moving southwards after midnight, causing ice on untreated roads and pavements.  

    There's a yellow warning for snow posted until just before midnight, and another for icy roads through until 11:00 tomorrow.  Minimum temperatures will be about -2C (28F)

    Weather graphic

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

  3. Five charged after long investigation into Cumbrian special school

    Cumbria Police say five men have been charged in a long-running investigation into a school for young people with behavioural problems.

    All the offences are said to have taken place at Underley Hall School, near Kirkby Lonsdale, which closed in 2012.

    In 2014, police launched Operation Tweed after a former pupil made allegations.

    Errol Mayer, 72, of New Road in Kirkby Lonsdale faces 18 charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and 10 of child cruelty.

    Four other men - John Studley, 64, of Maryland Close, Silverdale, Lancashire; Frederick Taylor, 74, of Lower Park Royd Drive, Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale; James Farish, 57, of Oakwood, Kendal, and David Hadwin, 70, of Raygarth Road, Kirkby Lonsdale, each face one charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.

    They are due to appear at South Cumbria Magistrates Court on 15 February.

  4. Not seen those fields like this often, this winter...

    Martin Lewes

    Reporter

    Brief but heavy snow showers have been sweeping across parts of the county, but the sun's been breaking through in between.

    That's when staff at the Blencathra Field Studies Centre do what the name implies, and study the fields between them and Blencathra.

    View more on twitter
  5. Police call for bar customers after Barrow fire

    Police in Barrow say they're keen to talk to anyone who was in the Bar Continental last night at the time fire broke out in the former club next door.

    Fire fighters rolling up hoses

    Firefighters have now rolled their hoses and left the ruined building, known throughout the town as the House of Lords working men's club, although they are checking regularly for flare-ups.

    The building had been disused for some time.

  6. Charity spends £19,000 on hospital equipment

    The Hospitals Equipment fund for Furness has given equipment worth £19,000 to the Furness General Hospital.

    It includes kit ranging from hand-held pulse oximeters, which analyse the amount of oxygen in a patient's blood, to a monitor allowing anaesthetists to keep watch on a patient's brainwaves during surgery.

    The donation was given on the day the Bay Hospitals charity announced it was opening a new office in Barrow.

  7. Blencathra appeal is told to give the money back to donors

    The organisation set up to buy Blencathra, when the Earl of Lonsdale put the 2,848ft (868m) on the market, has begun the task of tracking down all the donors who gave them money, to hand it back.

    Blencathra from air

    The earl originally tried to sell the distinctive mountain to settle an inheritance tax bill, but eventually he found the money elsewhere and the land is no longer for sale.

    The Charity Commission has now told the Friends of Blencathra that it must give the donations - a total of  £264,000 - back to those who sent it in.

    The group has put an advertisement in the Westmorland Gazette.

  8. Teenagers appear in court after robbery

    Two teenagers have appeared before magistrates in Carlisle charged with robbing the village post office in Ravenglass yesterday.

    One, who's 19 and from Ravenglass, was remanded in custody, and a 17-year-old was sent to local authority accommodation. Both were ordered to appear at Carlisle Crown Court on 13 February.

  9. Part of fire-damaged building to come down this afternoon

    Part of the Victorian building in Barrow that was ravaged by fire last night will be knocked down this afternoon, because it's dangerously unstable.

    The former Working Men's Club and Institute dated back to 1870, and was listed for the interest of its brickwork and history.

    Video content

    Video caption: Part of a Victorian building in Barrow which was gutted by fire is being demolished.

    The Grade II listed building was erected to provide somewhere for 'responsible and sober' working men to spend their spare time, with the land being given by the Furness Railway Company and the £3,450 cost provided by Henry Schneider, who founded the steel industry on which Barrow was built.  

    It's best known in the town by the nickname it gathered soon afterwards, the House of Lords.

  10. Owners warned to smarten up Kirkby Stephen's best parts

    A number of property owners in Kirkby Stephen are going to get a visit from council officials, after some locals said the state of some buildings was harming the appearance of the conservation area.

    Kirkby Stephen on Market Day

    Town councillors and Eden council planners have, a statement said this morning, identified a number of buildings that have become a concern.

    The statement added: "If owners are not willing to bring their properties up to a condition and standard of the conservation area, planning officers will then have to consider serving legal notices to ensure the properties are no longer harming the historic town centre."

  11. Travel: High roads hit by snow

    BBC Travel

    The A686 over Hartside, between Penrith and Alston, and the A592 Kirkstone Pass in the Lake District, are both affected by snow.

    Hartside Pass

    The Cumbria Highways webcams covering areas like Hartside (pictured) are here.

    You can find the latest travel news here.

  12. How cold is it where you are?

    So we know it's cold but how does where you are compare to temperatures around the rest of the world.

    Click here and you can put in your postcocde to compare the temperature here with more than 50 cities around the world, including some of the hottest and coldest inhabited places. 

    Highland cattle at Brough
  13. Watch: The inferno brings down the Lords

    Martin Lewes

    Reporter

    Here are  more pictures of Barrow's House of Lords in flames, this time thanks to the Huddlehub Facebook feed, which covered the blaze throughout the night.

    Some its posts of the blaze, which has destroyed the former Working Men's Club, were shared thousands of times

    Video content

    Video caption: Firefighters battled through the night as one of Barrow's historic pubs burned.

    The building was listed for its historic interest and, built in 1870, was one of the first working men's clubs in the town.

    It gathered the ironic nickname of the House of Lords, because it was built with the help of the titled landowners who founded much of the Furness iron and steel industry, and later its shipyard.

    Although it was licensed, one local historian, Bryn Trescatheric, says it also had a library, and "was promoted as a place where responsible and sober working men could go."

  14. Burned-out club 'could still collapse more'

    The former House of Lords in Barrow, or the Working Men's Club and Institute, and then the Lords Tavern, as it was formally known, is still at risk of collapsing further after the fire that swept through the Victorian building last night.

    People who had to leave their homes last night have been advised that if they return, they shouldn't go into back yards or the back street.

    The burned out ruins in daylight

    Cumbria's chief fire officer Paul Hancock said that Abbey Road between Dalkeith Street and Ramsden Square would remain closed for some time.

    Mr Hancock said up to 70 firefighters from Cumbria and Lancashire fought the blaze, with at the height of the incident, 12 fire engines, an aerial ladder and a number of other vehicles on scene. No one was hurt.

  15. Lib Dems pick Cockermouth councillor for Copeland by-election

    The Liberal Democrats have selected Rebecca Hanson as their candidate for the upcoming Copeland by-election. 

    Rebecca Hanson

    The Cockermouth town councillor says the vote will be a chance for people to reject a so-called "hard" exit from the European Union and plans to move NHS services away from West Cumbria. 

    The by-election will take place in the coming months, as a result of the Labour MP for Copeland Jamie Reed stepping down to work at the Sellafield nuclear plant.

  16. Your pictures: Gritting the high roads

    The plough is still lifted on this county council vehicle, showing the snow isn't yet deep enough to cause serious problems, as it spreads rocksalt on the icy 1,500ft high Kirkstone Pass.

    Snowplough on Kirkstone Pass

    You can find the latest travel news here, and if you've a winter wonderland picture, or one showing the problems it can cause, you can email ustweet us or get in touch through our Facebook page.