TWELVE national park jobs are being axed as part of budget cuts.

The Lake District National Park Authority has told staff that around five per cent of its 220 employees will lose their jobs as it slashes its spending by £522,000.

The authority gets its main funding from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which has been told to cut its budget by up to 25 per cent.

LDNPA members agreed to focus on partnerships, working with communities and getting volunteers to carry out more services.

Chief executive Richard Leafe said sorting out the authority’s bank balance was ‘crucial’ to moving forward and this was why the park had announced job losses before other national parks.

He said: “It’s important to get to grips quickly so that we can see how we can move forward.

“Consultations are already running within the communities in the national park to get ideas about the future.

“The government has a very localised agenda aiming to put local people in charge of their own destiny and this is something we welcome and have been working on with our partners.”