AN ACADEMIC from Kent infuriated the residents of Sedbergh this week with a proposal that their area should be shifted into the Penrith and Border parliamentary constituency.

The proposal was put before a meeting of the Boundary Commission, meeting in Carlisle, to review parliamentary constituencies in Cumbria.

The Sedbergh area has a chequered history in terms of local government associations and its geographical position has made discussion of administration areas a sensitive issue.

Although now largely administered by Cumbria County Council and South Lakeland District Council, the area belonged to the old West Riding of Yorkshire before local government reorganisation in the early 1970s.

It still retains its Yorkshire links, being part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

But the proposal by Michael Steed, an honorary lecturer in politics and international relations at Kent University, to include the Sedbergh, Garsdale, Dent and Middleton area in the Penrith and Border constituency left some Sedbergh residents astounded and angry.

"Bizarre", "ill-conceived" and "utter folly" were some of the words used by residents to describe the idea.

"I think he should have come and spoken to the people of Sedbergh first.

What right has he got to say anything without consulting the people of Sedbergh?" said vice-chairman of Sedbergh Parish Council Dorothy Blair.

One of the area's two representatives on South Lakeland District Council, Coun Kevin Lancaster, told Assistant Commissioner Susan Matthews QC, that the proposal to move Sedbergh, Garsdale, Dent and Middleton into the Penrith and Border constituency was "fundamentally flawed."

Mr Steed's proposal will now be considered by the Boundary Commission after a report and recommendations from Mrs Matthews.

A report is set to be published in June.

Mr Steed could not be contacted this week but a spokesman for the Boundary Commission in London said that any registered elector had the right to make proposals, provided the proper format was followed.