FAILURE to overturn a planning decision for a large advertisement banner at Grasmere could seriously impact upon the Wordsworth Trust's future, warns a director of the charity.

The trust learned yesterday (Thursday) that it had lost its appeal against the Lake District National Park Authority's refusal to allow the banner (4.6 x 2 metres) to be displayed on the Rotunda of the Jerwood Centre, reports James Williamson.

Wordsworth Trust director David Wilson described the planning inspectorate's decision as "sad" and claimed it now put in jeopardy the viability of the trust to promote its "world-class exhibitions" and "may have a serious impact on the ability of the Wordsworth Trust to cont-inue operating in the future."

In refusing the application to display the banner last year, members of the LDNPA's development control committee sided with the views of Lakes Parish Council, whose members said that the advertisement was not justified in a conservation area of high importance.

For full story see this week's Westmorland Gazette.