Lake District road reopens after five months of misery

Cumbrians see length of time it has taken to repair crucial A591 link after floods as proof of lack of government interest

Its loss has cost businesses 60% of their trade, separated children from their schools and cut the Lake District in half. But five months after floods destroyed one of Cumbria's key thoroughfares, the road between Grasmere and Keswick finally reopened on Wednesday.

That it took so long to repair the A591 after December's Storm Desmond is seen by many in the Lake District as a sign of the government's lack of interest in the north of England, despite its claim to want to build a "northern powerhouse".