KENDAL has been handed greater representation on Cumbria County Council - but Barrow is to lose one of its councillors under a redrawing of the county's ward boundaries.

The shake up of electoral arrangements, approved by local government minister Beverley Hughes, also gives an extra seat to the Eden district.

The changes, reflecting shifting population trends across the county, mean there will be 84 seats up for grabs at next year's county council elections.

Kendal will have five councillors instead of four from next May, with the new member representing Kendal Castle ward.

But representatives of community groups in part of Kendal are unhappy at the way the new Kendal ward has been drawn up.

Governors at Castle Park and Heron Hill primary schools, along with Sandylands and Heron Hill and Valley Drive residents associations, the Beck Community Centre Association and district councillors Chris Mayho and John Studholme, wanted the Castle area to remain in the present Far Cross ward, rather than being included in the new division.

It means the new Kendal Castle ward member will represent both primary schools.

The revised boundaries are likely to make it harder for Labour to defend its three seat majority on the council at the next election.

Labour is losing one of its stronghold seats in Barrow, while the party does not have any county councillors in Eden and failed to field a single candidate in the district at the 1997 elections.