The five candidates who are fighting it out in Westmorland and Lonsdale to be the next MP will be going head to head tonight (Thursday, April 16) in a pre-election debate organised by The Westmorland Gazette.

The event will be held at The Hub at Kendal College on Milnthorpe Road at Kendal from 6.30pm.

An audience of 250 people will hear Alan Piper (Ukip), Dr Ann Myatt (Conservative), Chris Loynes (Green Party), John Bateson (Labour) and Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat) answer questions submitted by readers on a variety of local topics.

You can follow the debate as it unfolds by visiting thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk where there will be a live blog running from this afternoon. You can also follow the debate and get involved on Twitter using the hashtag #WGdebate

There will also be full coverage in next week's Gazette.